The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice is a left-of-center New Orleans-based climate policy nonprofit that promotes the use of weather-dependent power systems, such as wind and solar energy, and opposes the use of hydrocarbons and carbon-free nuclear power. The center was founded by in 1992 by Beverly Wright, an environmentalist activist who was later appointed by President Joe Biden to serve on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. In 2023, the center received a $13 million grant from the Biden administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a grant significantly higher than the $8.6 million the center generated in total revenue in 2022. ^{1 2 3 4}

Background and Activities

The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice was founded by Beverly Wright in 1992 and was previously affiliated with Dillard University and Xavier University before becoming a standalone nonprofit organization. The group centers its work on opposing the chemical industry and areas of suspected chemical pollution that it calls the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor, tying pollution in the area to racial issues and highlighting the perceived impacts of pollution on ethnic-minority communities. ^{4 5}

The center also opposes the use of traditional energy sources, supporting wind and solar energy projects and subsidies while opposing nuclear energy projects. ²

Following the 2024 presidential election, the center released a statement that did not directly address the election results but stated that “DSCEJ’s commitment to environmental justice has remained constant during five presidential administrations and countless environmental statutes and policy shifts. We have known the hope of promises made, the joy of promises kept, and the bitterness of promises broken.” ⁶

Opposition to Nuclear Energy

In a May 2021 statement, the Deep South Center claimed nuclear power “disproportionately harms Black and Indigenous communities” and is “not ‘renewable’ or ‘clean.’” The statement praised “The Renewable and Clean Portfolio Standard, passed by the New Orleans City Council, [which] mandates that all electricity Entergy supplies to New Orleans comes from renewable and carbon-free energy by 2040, with maximum allowance of 10 percent offsets. The law also requires Entergy to eliminate oil, gas and coal from electricity supplied to our city by 2050.” It also opposed the continued supply of nuclear energy under the ordinance. ⁷

Nuclear power plants, as of 2021 accounted for 20 percent of American electricity production—the largest source of zero-carbon electricity in the United States. ⁸ An October 2018 proposal from The Nature Conservancy noted that zero-carbon nuclear plants produced 7.8 percent of total world energy output and recommended reducing carbon emissions by increasing nuclear capacity to 33 percent of total world energy output. ⁹

Funding

In 2023, the center received a $13 million grant from the Biden administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a grant significantly higher than the $8.6 million the center generated in total revenue in 2022. The press release announcing the grant stated that the center was “among 16 entities selected nationally through a partnership between EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy to house Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs) and receive a total of $177 million in grant funding. The grants will help underserved and overburdened communities across the country access funds from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda for a variety of activities to advance environmental justice (EJ).” ¹

In addition to government grants, the group has received funding from several notable left-of-center foundations and environmentalist groups including the Sunrise Movement Education Fund, Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, Windward Fund, the Partnership Project, and the US Climate Action Network. ¹⁰

In February 2025, it was reported by the New York Post that the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice was one of several non-profit organizations intended to receive a portion of $67 million in grant money through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Biden Administration for the purpose of supporting an “environmental justice” mandate. ¹¹ It was reported that collaboration between the EPA under the Second Trump Administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) uncovered the intended grants, with the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice set to receive $8million. Other organizations listed to receive such grants included the Institute of Sustainable Communities ($12.4 million), the San Diego State University Foundation ($4.2 million), the Minneapolis Foundation ($7.6 million), and the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative ($7.2 million). ¹¹

Leadership

Beverly Wright is the founder and executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. She is also a founding co-chair of the HBCU-CBO Gulf Coast Equity Consortium and the HBCU Climate Change Consortium. She received a bachelor’s degree from Grambling College and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Sociology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. ¹²

Wright was appointed by President Joe Biden to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council and sat on the Justice40 Initiative Workgroup and the Carbon Management Committee during the Biden administration. Wright was also appointed by to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions Federal Advisory Council (HBCU-MSI FAC), which the Biden administration created. ¹²

1. “EPA announces $13M grant to Deep South Center for Environmental Justice to help communities access historic funding under Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda.” United States Environmental Protection Agency. August 15, 2023. Accessed January 17, 2025. https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-13m-grant-deep-south-center-environmental-justice-help-communities
2. “New Orleans Gains Ground on Renewable Energy.” Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. May 21, 2021. Accessed January 17, 2024. https://dscej.org/2021/05/21/new-orleans-gains-ground-on-renewable-energy/
3. “White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council.” The White House. Accessed January 18, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/environmentaljustice/white-house-environmental-justice-advisory-council/
4. “About.” Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. May 21, 2021. Accessed January 17, 2024. https://dscej.org/about/
5. “Research Policy.” Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. May 21, 2021. Accessed January 17, 2024. https://dscej.org/research-policy/
6. “Founder Dr. Beverly Wright on the work ahead for the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice.” Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. November 25, 2024. Accessed January 17, 2025. https://dscej.org/2024/11/25/founder-dr-beverly-wright-on-the-work-ahead-for-the-deep-south-center-for-environmental-justice/
7. “Nuclear explained.” U.S. Energy Information Administration. Accessed January 17, 2025. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/nuclear/us-nuclear-industry.php
8. “Nuclear explained.” U.S. Energy Information Administration. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/nuclear/us-nuclear-industry.php
9. “The Science of Sustainability.” The Nature Conservancy. October 13, 2018. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/the-science-of-sustainability/
10. “Full Text Search: Deep South Center for Environmental Justice.” ProPublica. Query Conducted January 18, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?form%5B%5D=IRS990PF&form%5B%5D=IRS990ScheduleI&page=2&q=Deep+South+Center+for+Environmental+Justice&sort=best&submit=Apply
11. Levine, Joe and Rich Calder. “DOGE, EPA cut $67M in grants for lefty groups pushing Biden’s ‘environmental justice’ mandate.” New York Post, February 22, 2025. https://nypost.com/2025/02/22/us-news/doge-cuts-67-m-in-epa-grants-for-environmental-justice-groups/
12. “Dr. Beverly Wright Appointed by EPA as Vice Chair of New Federal Advisory Committee.” Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. September 18, 2024. Accessed January 17, 2025. https://dscej.org/2024/09/18/dr-beverly-wright-appointed-by-epa-as-vice-chair-of-new-federal-advisory-committee/