Gulf Coast of the United States Gulf Coast of the United States The Gulf Coast of the United States is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, and these are known as the "Gulf States". The economy of the Gulf Coast area is dominated by industries related to energy, petrochemicals, fishing, aerospace, agriculture, and tourism. The large cities of the region are (from west to east) McAllen, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Houston, Galveston, Beaumont, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile,
Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies solutions to Gulf of Mexico problems On September 19, 2000, the late Edward H. Harte, philanthropist and former owner of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times newspaper, donated $46 million to establish a new research institute to focus on the Gulf of Mexico. The previous year, knowing that Harte, a committed conservationist, had been deeply impressed by internationally famed oceanographer Sylvia Earle’s book Sea Change: A Message of the Oceans, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi President Robert Furgason approached him about establishing an internationally distinguished research organization focused on the exploration and sustainability of the Gulf of Mexico. While acknowledging that there were