Labor & Employment Law

Country?s Future Depends on Creating Good Green Jobs

By James Parks

The future prosperity of the country depends on our ability to create good, green jobs and clean energy, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today.

Speaking at the opening plenary of the 2010 Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference meeting in Washington, D.C., she said clean energy jobs are one way to put people back to work and  address the problem of chronic unemployment.

We must train the next generation of workers in the good-paying jobs of the 21st century. And clean energy jobs is one way to do just that.

 We know our recovery and our prosperity depend on making the United States first in clean energy. For our economy and our workers, America must be first.

Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-New Mexico) echoed Pelosi at the afternoon plenary, telling participants at the three-day conference that green jobs offer the opportunity for people of color who have been hit hardest by the economic crisis to gain long-term employment.   

The Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference, which began today, brings together union members, environmentalists, business leaders, lawmakers and administration officials to map out a path to a green economy by creates good jobs, reduces global warming and preserves America’s economic and environmental security.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis told participants that “while the steps we have taken over the past year have begun to put the economy back on the right track, we still have a lot of work to do.”

Together we must “invest, innovate, and act” to restart our economy.        

Our workers are our nation’s most valuable asset and it is critical that as we invest in clean energy jobs, we ensure they are good jobs for everyone.

Read Pelosi’s speech here and Solis’ here.

Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Larry Cohen, who introduced Solis, told the participants protecting workers’ rights will ensure that green jobs are good jobs.

The fight we’re all in has never been tougher. But all of us working together can keep alive the hope that is in this room. We’re building new alliances and new allies and together, we can’t be stopped.

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) President Warren George made the case for mass transportation as a key part of the effort to clean up the environment and create jobs. He pointed out that every $1 billion spent on public transportation creates 60,000 new jobs. He called on Congress to quickly pass climate change legislation that includes substantial investment in mass transit.

Dean Allen, CEO of McKinstry, a Seattle-based company that designs, builds, operates and maintains buildings, said his company and the building trades unions that represent the employees have developed several new, innovative ways to create green buildings. He said it is essential to bring everyone to the table to address the issues of green jobs in order for the country to grow.

Pelosi, Solis, Cohen and George head up an impressive group of speakers, including AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka; United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard; Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.); Sierra Club Executive Director Carol Pope; Rick Fedrizzi, president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council; George Miller, president of the American Institute of Architects; high-ranking Obama administration officials; and Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter.

More than 100 workshops are on tap, covering green manufacturing, environmental and occupational health and safety, business investment and new markets. Click here for a schedule of the workshops and here for the entire agenda.

In addition, the conference features the 2010 Green Innovation Expo, where more than 100 exhibitors from labor, industry, environment and academia will be on hand to demonstrate how they are charting the path toward growing the green economy and developing clean energy jobs.

The conference is coordinated by the Blue Green Alliance, the partnership of the labor and environmental organizations, which includes the USW, CWA, AFT, Utility Workers (UWUA), ATU, the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on May 04, 2010 (boomark / email).