The City of Gonzales recently became the second city in Louisiana to develop its own climate action plan. Gonzales is leading by example and has taken this step toward climate resilience with an even larger goal in mind: aligning their efforts with Louisiana’s Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40-50% by the year 2030, and to have net-zero emissions by 2050.
I grew up in Winnsboro, LA, a rural town in North Louisiana – similar to Gonzales. I know very well the close relationship that rural city governments have with their residents. They care for you. They know your name – and the names of your mother, father, grandmother, cousins, aunts, uncles and…well, you get the point. Rural towns are basically large families – the relationships are genuine. So when Gonalzes community leaders reached out to CPEX with the desire to develop a Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CARP) to ensure that their residents can enjoy the city years from now as they do today, that resonated with me.
I was excited to do this work because it aligns with my career goals and education. But it’s my roots and the connection to my early days in Winnsboro that really drew me in to this project and gives me hope for the future of Louisiana. It is inspiring to see this initiative coming from a small and strong town like Gonzales. They understand that the future of their community depends on their ability to withstand the climate crisis threatening our state, so they’re taking matters into their own hands.
Working with the City of Gonzales gave us at CPEX a chance to build trust within the community and further strengthen our relationship with city leaders. We engaged residents by supplying them with a preference survey to see what changes they would like to see in Gonzales. Bike lanes, community gardens, farmers markets, composting and recycling services, transit options, and public parks are just some of the things that Gonzales residents said they want to see in their city. CPEX used the survey results, input from Gonzales’s Climate Action Committee, and focus group findings to develop strategies for compact development and energy efficiency measures that will move Gonzales toward its climate resilience goals. During this process, there were some worries about what change would look like and the growing presence of new technologies such as electric vehicles. We had an opportunity to hear members out, address their concerns, and collectively come up with solutions that were tailored to the city of Gonzlaes and what they were comfortable seeing themselves achieve in the near future. A major part of this process was listening to our partners – and actually hearing them – and then providing workable strategies for achieving their goals. I am glad we were able to do that for the city and residents of Gonzales.
Last year, Louisiana released the state’s Climate Action Plan – a set of proposals and strategies for reducing the severity of climate change impacts while preserving economic competitiveness in a low-carbon future. Gonzales is doing their part to ensure that their residents as well as our state are prepared for future climate impacts, and we look forward to seeing other communities follow their lead.
Simbrey Majors
Resilience and Adaptation Planner
Simbrey Majors is a Resilience and Adaptation Planner assisting in the development and implementation of new projects, conducting research, and analyzing data. Originally from Winnsboro, LA, Simbrey received her Bachelors in Environmental Science in 2016 with a concentration in soil and water conservation from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and recently obtained her Masters in Urban Forestry and Natural Resources from Southern University in December 2020. Her main focus and passion centers on bettering our environment and fighting for environmental equity and justice.