The streets were fresh from Mardi Gras excitement as we got to work in the Crescent City. Our trailer was parked in Lakeview, thanks to the kind people at Lakeview Presbyterian Church. Even three years after Katrina, many of the beautiful homes of this neighborhood stand empty, boarded up and stained from the floods that tore the community apart. The church had just finished its reconstruction – the entire first floor was destroyed. We cooked up a delicious stir-fry in our trailer, settled into our sleeping bags and got ready for the coming challenge of approaching community-based energy issues in a city that is deeply engaged in a rebuilding effort.
New Orleans is a remarkable city; a sense of commitment and uniqueness pervades its organizations, events, attitudes and individuals. One group that we were very lucky to get in touch with is the Alliance for Affordable Energy, an organization that works towards “creating fair, affordable, environmentally responsible, community-based energy policies for Louisiana and the nation.” The Alliance is involved in a remarkable number of projects, including weatherizing houses to make them more energy efficient, running a resource center and working on job training programs designed to build a Green Jobs workforce within New Orleans. The ability that the Alliance has to engage entire communities and work in solidarity towards energy efficient solutions is inspiring.
We teamed up with both the Alliance and Common Ground Relief to see where we could help out with some of these projects. We taught at Warren Easton High, the oldest high school in the state, and spent some time talking about the emerging green job workforce. Tulane University came into the picture when we gave a workshop on campaign planning and followed with a discussion on how the university students of New Orleans can engage the high school students in working towards energy efficient rebuilding, community service and green jobs.
Sitting in the Common Ground office with the organization’s leaders as well as Forest Bradley-Wright, the Sustainable Rebuild Coordinator with the Alliance was one of the most exciting moments yet – we watched as bridges were built and new coalitions began to get rolling. We can’t wait to continue these relationships and stay involved with the intense efforts underway to rebuild New Orleans in the most energy efficient way possible, with the community and by the community. (by Gina)
