Climate science, policy, politics, and action
Full committee hearing.
Nominee:
Witness:
The FY 2023 request for the Department of Labor (DOL or Department) is $14.6 billion in discretionary budget authority and 16,922 full-time equivalent employees (FTE), with additional mandatory funding and FTE.
The Budget requests a $100 million investment for DOL’s role in the new multi-agency POWER+ Initiative, which aims to assist displaced workers and transform communities transitioning away from fossil fuel production to new, sustainable industries. Furthering the Administration’s emphasis on addressing climate change by creating opportunities for workers in America, the Budget requests $20 million to pilot the Civilian Climate Corps, in partnership other Federal agencies, which will fund paid work experiences, preapprenticeship programs, and RA programs for youth in industries and jobs related to climate resilience and mitigation.
The request also provides the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) $10 million for a new program, developed in collaboration with VETS and the Department of Veterans Affairs, focused on helping veterans shift to careers in clean energy, which would help combat climate change while preparing veterans for good-paying jobs.
The request also includes an increase of nearly $44 million for the Mine Safety and Health Administration focused on restoring its capabilities in enforcement and mine plan and equipment reviews. This increased funding will help ensure miners’ health and safety amid a projected increase in workload stemming from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).
AGENDA SEPTEMBER 21, 2021
9:30 AM Welcome, Purpose, and Review of the Day
Opening Lightning Round: Messages from Labor and Allies on How to Ensure Good Jobs In Clean Energy Industries
CJNRC Video
10:15 AM Ali Zaidi, Deputy White House National Climate Advisor
10:30 AM American Jobs Plan: Impact & Opportunities for Clean Energy and Good Jobs
12:00 PM Break
12:15 PM Equity and Good Jobs in a Clean Economy: State Strategies for Winning Labor Standards and Equity in Opportunity
1:45 PM Two Concurrent Panel Discussions:
Building Carbon Free and Healthy Schools
Building a Robust, Equitable Offshore Wind Industry in the U.S.
3:15 PM Secretary Marty Walsh, U.S. Department of Labor
3:40 PM Liz Shuler, President, AFL-CIO
3:50 PM Closing and Call to Action
Kyle Bragg, President, Service Employees International Union, 32BJ (SEIU) & Climate Jobs NY
4:00 PM Adjourn
On June 24th, the BlueGreen Alliance released “Solidarity for Climate Action”, a compendium of labor and environmental principles with the goal of achieving net-zero carbon pollution by 2050 in line with the Green New Deal vision.
Several union leaders associated with the fossil-fuel industry have responded to the call for a Green New Deal with skepticism or hostility, despite its emphasis on full employment and a unionized workforce; the work of the BlueGreen Alliance represents the viewpoint of another side of labor movement. The opening lines of the document emphasize the importance of collaboration as much as the end result:
“The BlueGreen Alliance and its labor and environmental partners are committed to the vision, principles, and policies outlined in this document, and are committed to a process of working together to identify concrete solutions to achieve these goals.”
The high-level vision document was unveiled at a presentation featuring Mike Williams of the BlueGreen Alliance, Leo Gerard of the United Steelworkers, and the National Wildlife Federation’s Collin O’Mara.
The members of the Alliance include the environmental organizations Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Union of Concerned Scientists, Environmental Defense Action Fund, League of Conservation Voters, and the National Wildlife Federation; and the labor unions United Steelworkers, Communication Workers of America, Service Employees International Union, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), Utility Workers Union of America, American Federation of Teachers, United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA), and the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC).
This effort echoes The Leap Manifesto and the platform of the European Green Party, though with less ambition.
Download “Solidarity for Climate Action” or read the text below:
Senate Finance Committee member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and House Energy and Commerce Committee member Jay Inslee, D-Wash., will join Laborers’ International Union general president Terence O’Sullivan, Sierra Club political director Cathy Duvall, and clean energy business leaders and workers for a news conference on Tuesday, February 3 at 11 a.m. ET at the United States Capitol to urge Congressional leaders to take bold action to create a new Green American Dream for working people by making sure the newly created green jobs are good jobs that can sustain families and fuel economic recovery.
Speakers will release a new report analyzing the varied quality of existing green jobs (some paying as little as $8.25 an hour), and urge Congress to take bold action to ensure that the major public investments in Congress’ economic recovery and reinvestment plan create a green economy that rebuilds the middle class and renews the American Dream for America’s workers.
The report release comes a day before hundreds of labor, environmental and business advocates go to Capitol Hill — on Wednesday, February 4 — for Green Jobs Advocacy Day to educate lawmakers about the job-creating opportunities that exist in the green economy.
Participants
From the Wonk Room.
President-elect Barack Obama has reportedly completed his Cabinet with the selection of Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA) as Secretary of Labor. Solis, a five-term representative from East Los Angeles, is a progressive leader in the fight for green jobs, as both a “stalwart friend of the unions” and the author of the first environmental justice law in the nation. At this summer’s National Clean Energy Summit, convened by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), Solis spoke about her commitment to solving global warming through a clean energy economy for all:
Our nation is at a crossroads right now. We can choose to transition to a clean energy economy that secures our energy supply and combats climate change or we can continue down the same old path of uncertainty and insecurity that we’re currently in. Current economic conditions, particularly for under-served, under-represented minority communities underscore the need to transition to clean energy technology.
Watch it:
The Green Jobs Act authored by Solis and passed into law as part of the 2007 energy bill was not funded at all. Green For All and the Center for American Progress are calling for full funding of this legislation.
From the Wonk Room.
Yesterday, the Center for American Progress released Green Recovery, a new report by Dr. Robert Pollin and University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute economists. This report demonstrates how a new Green Recovery program that invests $100 billion over two years would create 2 million new jobs, with a significant proportion in the struggling construction and manufacturing sectors. It is clear from this research that a strategy to invest in the greening of our economy will create more jobs, and better jobs, compared to continuing to pursue a path of inaction marked by rising dependence on fossil fuel billionaires.
To create 2 million new jobs within two years, the overall level of fiscal expansion will need to be around $100 billion, or roughly the same as the portion of the April 2008 stimulus program that was targeted at expanding household consumption. This green economic recovery program will create more jobs and better paying jobs. If Congress were to decide as part of a domestic oil production and gas price reduction effort to spend $100 billion on new oil and gas subsidies and subsidizing gasoline and oil prices, only a quarter as many jobs would be created:
A coalition of corporations, labor, religious and environmental organizations has announced its support of Sen. Barbara Boxer’s (D-CA) manager’s mark of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. Several are members of the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), which called for mandatory climate legislation in January 2007, but more recently has been wrapped in internal conflict.
The letter begins:
The undersigned companies and organizations urge you to vote in favor of the Climate Security Act, S. 3036 (formerly S. 2191), which is expected to be considered by the full Senate beginning June 2. This is a very important vote on a bipartisan plan to address climate change. Prompt action on climate change is essential to protect America’s economy, security, quality of life and natural environment.
USCAP signatories are Alcoa, Environmental Defense Action Fund, Exelon Corporation, FPL Group, General Electric, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, NRG Energy, Inc, and PG&E Corporation. Non-USCAP signatories are Calpine Corporation, Interfaith Power and Light Campaign, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Izaak Walton League of America, National Grid, National Parks Conservation Association, Pew Environment Group, Public Service Enterprise Group, Trout Unlimited, and the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting (UA).
Full text is below:
Real progress on climate change issues requires new, manageable policy. It’s time to get to work. The Climate Policy Puzzle: Putting the Pieces Together is 2008’s must attend conference for those looking for straight talk on U.S. policy developments.
Join A&WMA, Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. (R-UT), and ranking representatives from the environmental community in Arlington, VA April 2-3, 2008 for a climate change event that breaks new ground.
Get down to business on positions, perspectives and predictions with issue-leaders from:
Marriott Crystal City Gateway
1700 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, VA 22202
Phone: 703-920-3230
Fax: 703-271-5212
To register, download the registration form and return it with your payment to:
Registrar, Air & Waste Management Association
420 Fort Duquesne Blvd., 3rd Floor
Pittsburgh, PA 15222-1435
USA
Fax: 412-232-3450
Phone: 412-232-3444
Important Note! The advance registration deadline was extended from March 10 to March 17.
Refund Policy:
If written notice of cancellation is received on or before March 19, 2008, payment will be refunded, less a $75 cancellation fee. (Cancellation fees apply regardless of payment method). Substitutions may be made at any time; payment for any difference is due at the time of substitution. This refund policy applies to all occurrences, including weather-related events and other natural disasters. In the unlikely occurrence of event cancellation, the Association is not liable for any expenses incurred by the registrant other than the full refund of registration fee(s) paid.
Continuing Education Credit Opportunities:
Conference attendees may be eligible for continuing education credit. For more information, please contact Autumn Secrest, Programs Coordinator, at 412-232-3444 ext. 6031, or [email protected].
Conference Committee:
Conference Co-chairs:
Organizing Committee Members:
The 2008 Investor Summit on Climate Risk will bring together more than 450 institutional investors, Wall Street leaders and CEOs from around the world to consider the scale and urgency of climate change risks, as well as the economic opportunities of a global transition to a clean energy future.
Purpose
The purpose of the Summit is to provide a high-level forum for state treasurers, leading institutional investors, and financial services firms from around the world to consider the scale and urgency of climate change risks, as well as the economic opportunities of a global transition to a clean energy future.
Objectives
Based on a vision of hope and opportunity, the Summit will focus on how investors can advance solutions to climate change, with a particular emphasis on the benefits of energy efficiency. The Summit aims to help investors:
Background
The 2008 Summit builds on the groundbreaking success of the first two UN Investor Summits on November 21, 2003, and May 10, 2005. Hundreds of institutional investors and asset managers from around the world, representing trillions of dollars in assets, attended the previous Summits. The information they shared raised profound concerns about investor exposure to climate risk, the future security of investment assets, and the fiduciary duty to take prudent steps to address climate risk on behalf of shareholders and beneficiaries. Information on previous Summits can be found at the Investor Network on Climate Risk website.
Climate Risk – and Opportunity
Climate change poses regulatory, legal, physical and competitive risks for companies. In the two years since the 2005 Summit there has been a growing recognition that climate change presents serious risks, not only for businesses and investments, but also for the global economy. Left unattended, risks from climate change will worsen over time, harming company assets and global investment portfolios. Leading economists, investors, and business leaders have stated recently that the costs of action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are both affordable and significantly lower than the costs of inaction. Where there are risks, there are also opportunities, and the business opportunities posed by addressing climate change are significant. With the proper government policies and market conditions, low-carbon technologies that are available today could be more broadly deployed, and significant reductions in emissions could be achieved over the next few decades—all while creating vast new economic opportunities and new jobs.