(9/16) DeKalb Green New Deal Organizing Workshop
Join Commissioner Terry, the District 6 Team, and other DeKalb Green New Deal Champions in workshopping next steps towards a
DEKALB GREEN NEW DEAL
A plan to take bold, urgent action to combat the climate crisis NOW in DeKalb County.
WHAT IS THE DEKALB GREEN NEW DEAL?
Our DeKalb Green New Deal is a people-powered organizing effort that will elevate the realities of the climate crisis, push for bold solutions and help enact meaningful policy solutions to protect our communities. This looks like clean and efficient energy, conserving nature and ensuring it is accessible, and environmental justice and equity.
WHY NOW?
Communities across Georgia are experiencing the effects of climate change through unpredictable and disruptive weather, high energy bills, flooding, and extreme heat. The climate crisis is here, and it’s time for local leaders to take bold, urgent action to combat it now.
DeKalb County has an incredible opportunity to stop climate change and preserve our environment through land use, planning, and zoning. All of which are primary responsibilities of County Commissioners. We can’t control what happens at the state or even the federal level, but we can push for the changes we want to see here in DeKalb and set the model for how to take meaningful action to protect our environment and reverse global warming at the local level.
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Join Our Slack
The DeKalb Green New Deal is a people powered organizing movement. Want to start organizing with fellow DeKalb residents? Join us in Slack.
Become a GND Champion
We need people in every neighborhood across DeKalb to get involved. Are you ready to become a DeKalb Green New Deal Champion? Sign the pledge below!
Read the latest news
From updates about the latest legislation we are working on to videos from our most recent events, this is our DeKalb Green New Deal Newsroom.
Upcoming Events
FAQ
about the
Dekalb GND
What is the
Green New Deal?
Originally introduced during the 116th United States Congress, the Green New Deal is an all-encompassing public policy that equitably mitigates climate change and reduces greenhouse gas emissions while also creating jobs and prioritizing environmental justice.
What is the DeKalb Green New Deal?
Our DeKalb Green New Deal is a people-powered organizing effort that will elevate the realities of the climate crisis, push for bold solutions and help enact meaningful policy solutions to protect our communities. From volunteering to revitalize our landscapes to advocating for vital legislation that your Board of Commissioners and state leadership can vote on, my team and I are bringing the fight against climate change to the people, DeKalb’s people.
Why does DeKalb need a Green New Deal?
Communities across Georgia are experiencing the effects of climate change through unpredictable and disruptive weather, high energy bills, flooding, and extreme heat.
County Commissioners primarily oversee land use, planning, and zoning all of which have a direct impact in stopping climate change and preserving our environment. Commissioners have an incredible opportunity to enact big solutions on climate change locally- in a way that DeKalb residents will feel and notice.
What is included in the DeKalb Green New Deal?
The DeKalb Green New Deal includes a focus on:
A Clean and Efficient Energy Economy
- A county-wide 100% Clean Energy and Clean Transportation future
- A just and equitable transition to a clean energy economy
- Saving American families money by weatherizing buildings and lowering energy bills
Conserving and Ensuring Accessibility to Nature
- Expand regenerative landscaping and urban farming practices county-wide.
- Enact a Conservation Community Development ordinance to preserve more green space in future housing developments, protecting our trees and stream buffers.
- Bring back the park and greenspace bond program, to fund land purchases for permanent conservation areas, parks and recreation, and wildlife sanctuaries.
Environmental Justice and Equity
- Expanding affordable housing opportunities and justice for our frontline and under-resourced communities, propelling forward environmental justice and equity
- Saving the 2,000+ acres of the South River Forest for future generations.
- Start a DeKalb Civilian Climate Corp to provide good-paying jobs building green infrastructure.
What's Already happened?
2021:
- First year of Design Studios (2023 marks our 3rd year) with GA Tech and Ellen Dunham-Jones looking at how we can retrofit and sustainably redesign North and South DeKalb Mall, Memorial Drive, and Scottsdale
- Productive Urban Landscapes at 6 DeKalb County Libraries as a Pilot Project
- Cottages on Vaughn won the Atlanta Regional Commission’s 2021 Regional Excellence Awards for Innovative Development proving it as a sustainable middle housing solution and need for updating Cottage Court Ordinance
- Applied for GA Power’s Make Ready Program grant to expand electric vehicles and installed EV Chargers at DeKalb County’s Sam St. location
- Continued efforts of Commissioner Gannon to continue the study of the Peachtree Creek Greenway
2022
- 100% Clean Energy Resolution – 100% clean energy place to live by 2050, making it the sixth local government in Georgia to make such a pledge.
- Passing of the Fruitful Libraries Transition Plan
- 2022: DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office launches a program for detention officers to be able to take home electric vehicles
- 2022: Retrofit of DeKalb County’s Sam St building
2022: DeKalb County Million Tree Initiative and the ReLeaf Program - Commissioner Terry appropriated ARP funding for stormwater investments to install the first roads and drainage bioswale at the East Decatur Greenway
- Skyhaven Quarry Development: Preserve the historic Atlanta Quarry and donate the area for permanent conservation to the DeKalb County Parks
- Restarted Empower Clarkston program with Tekton to provide green training for Clarkston’s workforce who will retrofit and weatherize households to be more energy efficient.
2023
- Electric Vehicle Fleet expansion for DeKalb County including 2 new Ford Lightning Pick Up Trucks