Our Work
What we do and how
GASP is a non-profit health advocacy organization fighting for healthy air in Alabama. We strive to reduce air pollution through education and advocacy — because Alabamians deserve clean, healthy air. We are working to achieve our mission through a number of programs.
Air Pollution
Air Quality
Air pollution is the #1 environmental risk factor for premature death and disease in the world. More than 8 million people die each year as a result of exposure to pollution caused by burning fossil fuels alone. Fighting air pollution is why we exist — and will always be our primary focus.
AirWatch
AirWatch is our “watchdog” air pollution program. From investigating complaints to reviewing records, we strive to ensure the Clean Air Act is being fully enforced. If you’re concerned about air pollution in your neighborhood, please let us know about it. We will keep your information as confidential as you’d like. Also, be sure to check out the community science component of AirWatch.
Clean Air, Healthy Kids
GASP seeks to raise awareness and understanding of the health effects of air pollution on childhood health outcomes through our Clean Air, Healthy Kids initiative. Strategic activities include: support for ozone gardens, air monitor demonstrations, and EPA’s flag alert system.
Fresh Voices for Clean Air
Cohorts of students in Birmingham and Pittsburgh will regularly gather via virtual meetings to participate in discussions with each other and guest speakers both to learn more about air quality and to build skills that will help them become more effective environmental advocates.
Environmental Justice
Securing Environmental Justice in Birmingham
Environmental justice is at the core of who we are for a very simple reason: communities of color and lower incomes are disproportionately affected by pollution. Birmingham was built in the late 1800s on the strength of the iron and steel industry. Along with heavy industry came decades of air, land, and water pollution. Combined with Jim Crow-era policies like racial segregation and redlining, the result was generations sacrificed to pollution and contamination. We aim to protect everyone’s right to breathe clean, healthy air and to participate in decisions that affect their air quality and environment.
Climate & Energy
Climate Change in Alabama
Climate change is one of the must urgent issues facing us today. We must act now before it’s too late. Already, the effects of climate change are being felt — particularly among the most vulnerable populations. We equip people like you to become advocates for clean, renewable energy in our state.
Green New Deal for Birmingham
The Green New Deal is not a monolithic piece of legislation. It’s a vision for ending the climate crisis in a just and equitable way. We launched the Green New Deal for Birmingham (#BhamGND) on April 20, 2021 with the goal of developing a climate action plan written by and for the people of Birmingham. The campaign is divided into six areas: 1) clean air, land and water; 2) responsible energy; 3) transit justice; 4) equitable investments in community; and 6) sustainable development. Each of these buckets represent a committee that are co-chaired by community leaders.
Climate Justice, Y’all Podcast
Despite the South being the most biodiverse, diverse, and one of the largest economic engines in the world, we are underfunded and often barred from the decision-making table. So we decided to pull up a chair and amplify the stories of communities in the South hit the hardest by the climate crisis. We’re lifting up and centering the climate and environmental justice movement in the South. Using good ol’ fashion storytelling, we shine a spotlight Southern leaders from all walks of life putting in their blood, sweat, and tears to transform the region.
Southern Communities for a Green New Deal
Southern Communities for a Green New Deal is a vision for a just, equitable, clean, healthy, and thriving South. Its demands take into account the unique realities of the South. This platform is the product of a bottom-up, community-based approach to building alignment around shared vision, values, and goals.
Gulf South for a Green New Deal
Gulf South for a Green New Deal (#GulfSouth4GND) is a regional formation of more than 225 organizations advancing long-existing work towards climate, racial, and economic justice in five states across the Gulf South: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. GASP has the privilege of anchoring the Alabama Hub.
Community Science
AirKeeper Program
An extension of our AirWatch program, we utilize various methods for collecting air quality samples, such as summa canisters, sorbent tubes, and digital particle sensors. Learn how you can become a volunteer AirKeeper!
