Labor-Enviro Alliance Urges Climate Law in 2009

The Blue Green Alliance says this legislation is an effective way to rapidly put millions of Americans back to work building a clean energy economy and to reduce global warming emissions to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

David Foster, executive director of the Blue Green Alliance said today, "For the first time, a substantial number of unions representing workers across a broad section of the American economy have endorsed the principle that the way out of our current economic turmoil is through major investments in solving global warming. The labor and environmental movements have truly embraced a common vision for the future."

A national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations working to expand the number and quality of jobs in the green economy, the Blue Green Alliance was launched by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club in 2006. The alliance now includes the Communications Workers of America, Natural Resources Defense Council, Laborers' International Union of North America and Service Employees International Union.

Workers at the LM Glasfiber factory in Grand Forks, North Dakota put the finishing touches on a wind turbine blade. (Photo by Tuey)

The Blue Green Alliance was an initial partner in the Alliance for Climate Protection, founded by former Vice President Al Gore.

"This agreement is one more sign of the growing consensus around the urgency of action on climate change," said Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Environmentalists and labor groups are working together, standing side-by-side, and presenting a path forward for strong action on global warming that will repower our economy and protect our planet's future."

Congressman Henry Waxman, a California Democrat who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has promised to introduce climate change legislation by Memorial Day. He and other lawmakers have introduced climate legislation in past sessions of Congress, but these bills have never been enacted.

On Wednesday, Congressman Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, convened a hearing of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment entitled, Preparing for Climate Change: Adaptation Policies and Programs.

"Climate change is occurring as we speak and the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere will continue to warm the planet for decades," Markey said.

"Whether it's the eroding coastal areas of Louisiana, Texas, or the Atlantic states, the floods in the Midwest, hurricanes in Florida, wildfires in California, or the loss of snowpack in the Pacific Northwest, I'm sure that every member of the subcommittee has their own story of how a changing climate has affected their area," Markey said.

"If the United States and the world are going to successfully combat climate change, mitigation - the act of reducing greenhouse gas emissions - will not be enough. Our country and other nations must also implement adaptation policies to respond to changes in our climate, in our ecosystems and in our infrastructure," he said.

The Blue Green Alliance supports a reduction of U.S. emissions by at least 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, and supports a renewed U.S. effort to forge a global treaty to reduce worldwide emissions by 50 percent by that same date.

To meet these goals, domestic climate change legislation should reduce U.S. emissions below 2005 levels by 2020, with individual partners advocating targets ranging from 14 to 25 percent.

"We believe that climate change legislation is a critical step to jumpstarting the U.S. economy," said Leo Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers. "And we agree that the U.S. must significantly reduce our emissions, something we can accomplish by retaining and creating millions of family-sustaining green jobs in the clean energy economy."

Under a cap-and-trade law, power plants like Pennsylvania's Montour coal-fired facility would have to purchase allowances to emit greenhouse gases. (Photo by Mark Morey)

"We have the workers and the skills, and now we need action to build on the green programs of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," said Terence O'Sullivan, general president of the Laborers' International Union of North America.

"It is our duty to ensure that legislation develops a cap-and-trade system that connects environmental justice to economic justice in a way that supports communities across America and creates good, green jobs," said Gerry Hudson, international executive vice president of SEIU.

The consensus reached by the Blue Green Alliance partners supports auctioning allowances rather than giving them away, and using the auction proceeds to fund economic opportunities and training for high-unemployment communities.

In addition, climate change legislation should include investments in a wide range of technologies, including carbon, capture and sequestration technology, and federal financing for the transition to a clean energy economy, the alliance said in its consensus statement.

"Meeting the challenge to tackle climate change will allow us to build a clean energy economy right here in the United States — making the parts for wind and solar power and fuel efficient vehicles are just some examples," said Jim Clark, president of IUE-CWA, the Industrial Division of the Communications Workers of America. "The economic and climate crises afford us an opportunity to create good, middle-class green jobs."

"We share the common goal that climate change legislation is necessary to confront our greatest economic and environmental challenges," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. "Standing together to advocate legislation that aggressively reduces U.S. emissions while creating good jobs is essential to building a broad consensus in this country around a clean energy economy."

The Blue Green Alliance would like to see climate change legislation adopted that would help fund a clean energy economic development model for developing and emerging economies and also fund adaptation measures for people impacted by global warming both in the United States and around the world.

Click here to read the Blue Green Alliance policy statement.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.