Portion below; whole thing here: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2008/12/14/world/AP-EU-Climate-New-Partners.html
Robert Baugh, chairman of AFL-CIO's energy task force, said his federation still has ''some differences'' with environmental groups, but that ''we also have a lot of common interests.''
As environmentalists push for clean energy policies, he said it's vital that labor get involved to ensure that as those policies are put in place, workers' interests are not ignored.
''The climate crisis and a new energy policy is an opportunity for our country to actually have a strategy about the environment, about manufacturing,'' Baugh said. ''We think that by addressing the environmental crisis, we actually can have the opportunity to create good, green jobs.''
Baugh noted, for instance, that there are about 8,000 parts in a windmill -- and that his group wants to ensure that American workers will be making them.
The labor leaders who are going green like to cite examples of where green policies have led to job creation.
Pennsylvania, for example, passed renewable energy standards several years ago that persuaded the Spanish wind energy company Gamesa to open up four plants in Pennsylvania, creating 1,400 new jobs making wind turbines.
And last year, about 500 laid-off steel workers were called back to work in two steel plate mills Gary, Indiana, to produce steel for wind turbines.
Foster said unions and green groups have waged joint lobbying efforts nationwide for laws increasing energy efficiency and promoting renewable energies, and they have teamed up for numerous court battles against companies that violate workers' rights and environmental standards.
For example, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club have endorsed the Employee Free Choice Act, a union-backed bill that would protect workers' rights to join unions. The Sierra Club has mobilized members to write to their Congress members to support the bill.
Abraham Breehey, a senior union official, said workers are starting to shake off their belief that green energy spells doom rather than opportunity.
Breehey pointed to the case of a group of Indiana blacksmiths who recently struck a multimillion dollar deal to produce a new hammer for heavy-duty work in building wind turbines.
That ''was a light bulb moment, and we realized that there must be more examples where job opportunities on their face might not seem like green jobs but end up being part of the green economy,'' said Breehey, of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers.
1 comment:
This past year the historically high cost of gas seriously damaged our economy and society. We must be moving away from our mistakes of the past. Many European count ires have suffered higher fuel costs than we have, therefore they realized the importance of producing more energy efficient cars. We need to take some of these billions in bailout/stimulus dollars and invest in energy Independence. I just read Jeff Wilson's new book The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence NOW. This should be a required read before anymore bailout meetings. It would cost the equivalent of 60 cents per gallon to charge and drive an electric car. The electricity to charge the car could be partially or in most cases totally generated by wind or solar power. If all gasoline cars, trucks, and suv’s instead had plug-in electric drivetrains, the amount of electricity needed to replace gasoline is about equal to the estimated wind energy potential of the state of North Dakota. I encourage all to read this book. I also encourage all to visit the Better Place web site. They are the company that is setting up infrastructures in 3 maj CA cities as well as Hawaii to accommodate charging electric vehicles. If you click on the get involved button you can sign an online petition to bring such projects to your area.
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