Which is more important–saving the planet, or saving jobs?
You might hear the issue of whether and how to act on global warming couched this way, pitting environment against economy. The good news is that we can have both.
Last week, the 2,500 of us who attended the sold-out Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference in Washington, D.C., spent three days learning how.
What I noticed first at the conference was the wide mix of people there–members of United Steelworkers and other labor unions, members of the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, activists from the coalfields in states such as Kentucky and West Virginia, Native Americans, advocates from the inner cities. It was most diverse and excited group I’ve seen since inauguration day–and before that, ever.
This was part conference, and part revival. At the general session on the last morning, the D.C. Labor Chorus began singing loudly and energetically at 8 a.m. Then Native American activist Winona LaDuke gave an uplifting speech on the importance of reverence and humility in defining this new economy. A very cool hip-hop music video of Green Anthem by Tem Blessed and Ben Gilbarg had people standing up dancing. (Did I mention this was 8 a.m.?)
Green for All founder Van Jones talked about how our ancestors lived close to the earth, and how in America a new conversation is starting, people wondering how we can find our way back to our great-great-grandmother’s wisdom. He also posed an interesting question: Are we locusts, or are we honeybees? Near the end, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, president of the Hip Hop Caucus, was firing up the crowd. He had the audience standing, holding hands, a thousands-strong line to stand fast for change. Wow. We’re awake!
So why all the fuss about green jobs? And how do they benefit such a broad range of the population?
Labor groups see the connection between a transitioning economy and opportunities for American workers–in building parts for and assembling wind turbines and solar panels, in hauling and processing recyclables, in designing and constructing energy-efficient buildings, and in building cleaner transportation options, to name just a few. During the conference, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) announced that it is forming a new Center for Green Jobs in D.C.
Those who live in coal-mining towns see the opportunity to build clean energy wind farms that create permanent jobs, save their community residents from pollution-related illnesses, their workers from mining accidents and diseases, their heritage and mountains from being destroyed, and their drinking water being colored and contaminated by mines. For an example, see what Coal River Wind is doing.
Similarly, Native Americans want to see jobs that are cleaner and safer than the ones they currently take in an attempt to counter soaring unemployment rates, such as mining for uranium and coal, drilling for oil, and operating coal power plants. Instead, they’d like to harness the abundant wind and sunshine present on the reservations to bring health and good wages to their residents, and to live their values of respecting Mother Earth.
Residents of the inner cities need more good jobs, too. Low-income urban neighborhoods have a vested interest in stopping global warming, as they are among the hardest hit by climate change (for starters, think Hurricane Katrina, and hot summers without the means to pay for air conditioning). As they traditionally have not been among the leadership of the environmental movement, they also want to ensure that eco-apartheid does not take place, and that they are included in the push to create new jobs.
Good Jobs, Green Jobs makes a strong case that what’s good for the environment is good for all of us. How can going green help you? Please share your thoughts.
