Watching Government: AFL-CIO on Green New Deal
The nation’s largest organized labor entity apparently has some serious concerns about the proposal to address global climate change circulating in the 116th Congress, commonly known as the Green New Deal.
“We will not accept proposals that could cause immediate harm to millions of our members and their families. We will not stand by and allow threats to our members’ jobs and their families’ standard of living go unanswered,” said Cecil E. Roberts and Lonnie R. Stevens, respectively the international presidents of the United Mineworkers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
America’s labor unions agree that global climate change needs to be addressed, they told US Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) in their Mar. 8 letter on behalf of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations’ (AFL-CIO) Energy Committee.
“We agree in the need to invest in development and deployment of technologies like solar, wind, hydroelectric, carbon capture and utilization, and high-speed rail that limit or eliminate carbon emissions,” Roberts and Stevenson said.
Increased US natural gas production has led to reduced electric power plant emissions while providing a new source of construction and manufacturing jobs, they said. Investments to increase energy efficiency will be needed in the commercial and industrial sectors, along with retrofits and upgrades to schools and public buildings, to make US communities safe and resilient, Robertson and Stevenson said.
“All of these investments must be paired with strong labor and procurement standards to grow family-sustaining, middle-class union jobs,” they added.
“The fact is that the labor movement has been working on these issues for decades, and have advanced several potential solutions over that time that could provide a basis for solid, realistic action,” Robertson and Stevenson said.
Too short on specifics
“We welcome the call for labor rights and dialogue with labor, but the Green New Deal resolution is far too short on specific solutions that speak to the jobs of our members and the critical sectors of our economy. It is not rooted in an engineering-based approach and makes promises that are not achievable or realistic,” they stated.
Other unions with representatives on the committee include the Laborers International Union of North America, North America’s Building Trades Unions, International Union of Operating Engineers, Utility Workers Union of America, and United Steelworkers.
“We want to engage on climate issues in a manner that does not impinge on enacting other labor priorities, especially much-needed infrastructure legislation,” Robertson and Stevenson said. “As key specialists in jobs touching every facet of the energy and industrial sectors, we have much to add to this discussion and look forward to working with lawmakers from both parties to address this critical issue.”
Nick Snow
NICK SNOW covered oil and gas in Washington for more than 30 years. He worked in several capacities for The Oil Daily and was founding editor of Petroleum Finance Week before joining OGJ as its Washington correspondent in September 2005 and becoming its full-time Washington editor in October 2007. He retired from OGJ in January 2020.