Resolution to Endorse the DSA Great Lakes Authority (GLA) Campaign
Adopted at Detroit DSA General Meeting: May 4, 2019
WHEREAS the Great Lakes region includes all of Michigan, as well as portions of Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
WHEREAS the Great Lakes basin is home to vast natural resources, including the Great Lakes (which contain over one-fifth of the freshwater on the planet and provide potable water to over 40 million people).
WHEREAS the Great Lakes basin is also an agricultural powerhouse, with more than 55 million acres of productive land, and a bastion of low-carbon recreational options.
WHEREAS the Great Lakes Region overlaps substantially with what has come to be known as the “Rust Belt,” which has been ravaged for decades by free trade deals, deindustrialization, and corporate pollution, and has yet to recover from the Great Recession of 2008.
WHEREAS the Rust Belt’s long economic decline has produced a host of calamities--including the degradation of our air, water, and ecosystems; the privatization of both essential public services and natural resources; decrepit roads and bridges; inadequate mass transit systems; a housing crisis; and the abandonment of entire communities.
WHEREAS, in light of these factors, only massive investments and planning on the federal level can restore the region’s economy, environment, and infrasture.
WHEREAS, given that massive amounts of green infrastructure must be manufactured to avert climate catastrophe, it should be built in the Rust Best where millions of people already have manufacturing expertise and experience.
WHEREAS the Rust Belt should be “Engine of the Green New Deal.”
BE IT RESOLVED that Detroit DSA endorses the plan to create a new federal agency, in the vein of the Tennessee Valley Authority, called the “Great Lakes Authority” (GLA).
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The GLA would be a regional planning agency enacted under the umbrella of the “Green New Deal” with the mandate to bring green union jobs, environmental justice, and economic development to the Great Lakes region.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the GLA would prioritize (1) creating green, prevailing wage, union-backed jobs, (2) creating millions of zero-carbon public housing units and weatherizing existing homes, and (3) restoring the region’s infrastructure, including its energy and water systems; its roads, bridges, and waterways; and its public transit systems.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the GLA would be guided by the principles of (1) local control, (2) worker dignity, and (3) a just transition.