We support a federal Green New Deal (GND) as proposed in H.Res. 332 / S.Res. 166 and are committed to the resolution’s call for a just transition. In 2019 members of TAL formed a Green New Deal Working Group to focus on organizing for ecological justice as it relates to architectural labor, the built environment, and sustainable futures for all (read our founding Statement on the Green New Deal). The proposed GND legislation recognizes a just transition will require structural changes to the built environment. TAL believes that a deeper transformation rooted in equitable principles is necessary, and that GND legislation must consider infrastructure beyond individual buildings and contend with systemic problems of the building industry itself. We are also demanding a just transition for the entire building sector because, like energy workers, our livelihoods are entangled with the fossil fuel industry.
We are motivated by the urgency of climate action and committed to long-term collaboration with allied people and groups across policy, practice, and advocacy.
STEWARDS
Adare Brown, JR
What we’ve done so far
The recent efforts of the TAL GND Working Group have engaged policymakers directly. We authored an extensive GND policy response document focused on housing with the goal of offering our training, experience, and insight to articulate potential choke points in legislation that arise from misplaced assumptions about what causes environmental degradation and social inequality in the built environment. To date we have met with various legislative offices, endorsed legislation, and continue to organize for a Just Transition of the building sector.
Current Motions
Climate March 2023
Meet for breakfast ahead of the March on September 17, 2023
A Public Forum
At the People’s Forum on September 21, 2023
JT Pamphlets
We are writing a series of Just Transition pamphlets to engage in education and base building among AEC workers. In conjunction with that, we are organizing events and workshops with allied organizations.
Completed
JT 01 A Just Transition for the Building Sector
JT 02 Organizing for a Just Transition
Upcoming
JT 03 Organizing with the Building Trades
Resources
- T-A-L GND Working Bibliography
- A Just Transition for the Building Sector (printable pdf)
- Organizing for a Just Transition (printable pdf)
- A Just Transition for the Building Sector Policy Response Document (printable pdf)
- T-A-L Guide to Power Mapping
- T-A-L Statement on the Green New Deal
Past Campaigns, Projects, and Events
Building Coalitions for a Just Transition / Introducing the Alternative Building Industry (ABI) Collective, Event at Cooper Union (2023)
JT 02 Organizing for a Just Transition / Building a Union is Climate Action (2023)
A Just Transition for Architecture, Lecture at University of Utah (2022)
JT 01 A Just Transition for the Building Sector / We are Fossil Fuel Workers (2022)
A Just Transition for Architecture, Lecture at Cooper Union (2022)
Just Transition Open Meeting at City Group (2022)
Climate Resilience Workforce Act Endorsement (2022)
A Just Transition for the Building Sector Policy Response Document (2021)
History of Just Transition Workshop (2021)
Power Mapping Workshop (2021)
T-A-L Guide to Power Mapping (2020)
T-A-L Earth Week 2020 (2020)
T-A-L GND Chapter Kit (2019) for initiating conversations at the chapter level
Green New Deal: A Public Assembly (2019) with the Buell Center and Queens Museum
Designing the Green New Deal (2019) with UPenn
T-A-L Statement on the Green New Deal (2019)
In Publication
A Just Transition for the Building Sector: The Architecture Lobby’s Retroactive Roadmap, Valerie Lechene (2020)
Architects Take Climate Action!, Hannah Wood (2020)
Buildings on Air, Episode 29 (2019)
Architects and Designers Must Unite Behind the Green New Deal, Marianela D’Aprile (2019)
Press Mentions
November 19, 2020 | ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST | What Biden’s Presidency Could Mean for Architecture and the Built World | Sam Lubell
October 5, 2020 | ARCHINECT | Architects take Climate Action! Archinect talks climate emergency activism with built environment groups taking a stand | Hannah Wood
September 1, 2020 | SCIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE MAGAZINE | A Just Transition for the Building Sector: The Architecture Lobby’s Retroactive Roadmap | Valérie Lechêne
April 25, 2019 | ARCHPAPER | TAL Earth Week: Global Crises: Covid-19 & Climate Change | Editorial Board
February 22, 2020 | ARCHDAILY | The Architecture Lobby, the Drive to Unionize, and the Future of Work | Martin Pedersen
December 15, 2019 | ARCHINECT | Illustrating the massive scale of America’s decarbonization challenge | Antonio Pacheco
September 19, 2019 | CURBED | The Green New Deal is really about designing an entirely new world | Diana Budds
September 12, 2019 | ARCHINECT | UPenn and The Architecture Lobby to livestream “Designing a Green New Deal” symposium | Antonio Pacheco
June 25, 2019 | THE ARCHITECT’S NEWSPAPER | The Architecture Lobby issues official statement on the Green New Deal | Sydney Franklin
June 24, 2019 | FAST COMPANY |The Green New Deal could change the way America builds—here’s how | Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan
June 19, 2019 | ARCHINECT |The Architecture Lobby puts forth Green New Deal vision | Antonio Pacheco
June 16, 2019 | COMMON EDGE | Architects and Designers Must Unite Behind the Green New Deal! | Marianela D’Aprile
May 23, 2019 | METROPOLIS MAGAZINE | 5 Leading Experts and Advocates on How Architects Can Fight Climate Change | Audrey Gray
February 7, 2019 | THE ARCHITECT’S NEWSPAPER | What do architects want from a Green New Deal? | Antonio Pacheco
