Causecast

by JONATHAN HARRIS, Managing Editor

Causecast organization Global Green USA has been one of the foremost organizations helping to rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane hit the Louisiana city four years ago tomorrow, and though most of the focus during that time has been on what’s gone wrong, Global Green USA president Matt Petersen sent an e-mail out to their mailing list today detailing all the good work that has been done in that time.

Petersen was also invited to write a blog post for Anderson Cooper’s AC360 blog, which you can read in its entirety over at CNN. It’s called We are New Orleans. Read a brief excerpt:

In the days following August 29, 2005, I, like millions of others, watched our federal government’s pathetic, tragically inadequate, response to the drowning of a major American city play out on CNN. After pondering what more I could do besides send a donation, I began to feel galvanized, by a force that at times seemed to originate outside myself to help rebuild New Orleans green. There were those who questioned whether we should rebuild at all, but in my heart I not only knew that rebuilding would occur but that my organization would be there to help.

One week after the storm, I had a vision of how to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf region with three goals help rebuild 10,000 homes to be green, rebuild schools to be sustainable, and adopt a neighborhood. New Orleans could not only be resurrected, but it could provide a blueprint for creating a truly green 21st-century urban community one that is sustainable, highly energy-efficient, and also serves its most underprivileged citizens. After all of the hardship and heartache, this seemed to be the silver lining that the storm presented.

Petersen details Global Green USA’s Holy Cross Project, a sustainable village in the Lower Ninth Ward. Proving that environmentally-friendly housing is not only cost-effective but profit-inducing, local architects and contractors have updated their practices, with several becoming certified in solar panel installation and other green strategies. Four local schools have also benefited from Global Green’s work, getting green construction updates that will save them an estimated $22,000 each year.

Sign up for the Global Green newsletter and make a contribution to enable continued support and reconstruction in post-Katrina New Orleans.

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Image from the official Global Green website.