Apollo Alliance Applauds Portland Community Workforce Agreement
Agreement Sets Local Hiring, Training, Wage Goals for City’s Groundbreaking Clean Energy Works Program
SAN FRANCISCO – The Apollo Alliance praised Portland City Council members today for approving a community workforce agreement to guide the implementation of Clean Energy Works Portland (CEWP), a pilot program that will test new ways to deliver affordable home energy upgrades to Portland area homeowners. The goal of the project is to reduce carbon emissions, raise home values, and create new family-supporting jobs and long-term employment opportunities for Portland area residents.
The initial phase of CEWP will help up to 500 qualified Portland homes finance and install energy efficiency upgrades. Homeowners will have access to low-cost financing for residential weatherization, including new insulation and installation of energy-efficient heating and cooling systems. Efforts are underway to secure public and private funding so the project can be scaled up to reach 100,000 homes.
“This agreement is groundbreaking in Portland because it unifies the contractors, labor unions, and community-based organizations around a shared vision of energy efficiency and equitable employment opportunities,” said Barbary Byrd, chair of the Oregon Apollo Alliance and secretary treasurer of the Oregon AFL-CIO (see pix above).
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The community workforce agreement reflects a strong partnership between union apprenticeships, community-based pre-apprenticeship programs, contractors and organizations representing people of color and low-income communities. The agreement establishes several goals and targets for the CEWP program, which include hiring at least 80 percent of the project’s employees from the local workforce; ensuring that workers earn no less than 180 percent of the state minimum wage; offering workers access to adequate and affordable health insurance; mandating that people of color, women, and low-income residents perform at least 30 percent of total trades and technical project hours in the pilot program; ensuring diverse business participation; and offering resources for continuing education and certification for those new to the industry as well as for workers seeking career advancement opportunities.
“Oregon is at the vanguard of America’s clean and efficient energy movement,” said Ron Ruggiero, Portland-based field director for the Apollo Alliance. “The Clean Energy Works program can be a model for urban communities across the country that are striving to reduce pollution, cut energy costs, and provide a pathway out of poverty for low-income residents.”
The state of Oregon recently passed the Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Technology Act of 2009 (EEAST), a bill that will help create good local jobs and boost the state’s economy. Similar to CEWP, EEAST is a low-cost, voluntary loan program that can be applied to weatherizing existing residences and small businesses. With EEAST yet to be officially implemented, the Clean Energy Works program will likely be integrated into the larger statewide framework eventually. Together, EEAST and CEWP have the potential to significantly reduce energy expenses for home- and small business-owners and to create thousands of good green-collar jobs throughout the state.
Climate Change Takes Center Stage at UN Summit
Nearly 100 world leaders met at the United Nations in New York this week for a summit on climate change in advance of the international climate change gathering to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark in December. Because the prospects for reaching an agreement in Copenhagen that would replace the Kyoto Protocol appear increasingly dim, the New York summit was seen as a chance to create momentum to move negotiations forward.
There were some hopeful signs. Japan’s new premier announced that his country would reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, which will challenge other developed countries to set ambitious targets as well. And China’s president announced a plan for his country to set mandatory targets to reduce carbon emissions by a “notable margin” by 2020 from the 2005 level, though he avoided specifics.
As for the United States, President Obama made clear that climate change is a priority for his administration. He said, “As we head towards Copenhagen, there should be no illusions that the hardest part of our journey is in front of us. We seek sweeping but necessary change in the midst of a global recession, where every nation’s most immediate priority is reviving their economy and putting their people back to work. And so all of us will face doubts and difficulties in our own capitals as we try to reach a lasting solution to the climate challenge. But difficulty is no excuse for complacency. Unease is no excuse for inaction.”
Now the question is: will these speeches and announcements translate into a meaningful and binding international treaty that prevents the most devastating impacts of climate change? To make sure they do, the president of the Maldives, an archipelago of islands that will be ravaged by the sea levels rises that are expected if global warming continues unchecked, encouraged people to take action to make sure their governments do what’s right. Before speaking at the UN this week, he wrote the following in The Huffington Post:
“The climate is near a tipping point — when the Arctic suddenly melts and the glaciers disappear, that’s a very bad sign. We need our political system to cross a tipping point, too, to move from feel-good statements to actual solutions, cutting emissions quickly enough to meet the demands of science. But politicians are reluctant to act unless the people act first. The events in New York and on October 24th [an international day of climate action] provide ordinary people with the opportunity to make their voices heard and, in doing so, remind politicians who is ultimately in charge.”
G20 Meeting Touches on Green Economy Issues and Spotlights the Green City of Pittsburgh
On the heels of the UN Summit, world leaders again gathered this week for the Group of 20 (G20) Summit. The G20 includes 20 industrialized and developing countries and was created to be a forum for discussing key issues in the global economy.
The Obama administration announced in advance of the G20 meeting that it would push for an agreement among G20 members to phase out government subsidies of fossil-fuel industries. The U.S. and other major polluting nations like Russia, Brazil, China and India all give billions of dollars in tax breaks and subsidies to fossil-fuel industries like oil and coal. The outcome of Obama’s effort remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, the G20 summit is being held in Pittsburgh to highlight the city’s transformation from a polluted and declining industrial metropolis into a clean and booming green one. As Apollo board member Frances Beineke of the Natural Resources Defense Council wrote in The Huffington Post, “By hosting the G20 Summit in a former steel town that has transformed itself into a booming center of green technology, the Obama administration is underscoring the power of clean energy solutions to both launch us out of the financial crisis and confront the climate crisis at the same time.” Click here to read the full article.
PG&E Takes a Stand Against U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Climate Extremism
Northern California utility company PG&E announced on Sept. 22 that it would withdraw from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because of the Chamber’s extreme position on climate change. PG&E, whose Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, Nancy McFadden, sits on the board of the Apollo Alliance, is a leader among U.S. corporations that are pushing the federal government to adopt a comprehensive clean energy and climate change policy.
In a blog post titled “Irreconcilable Differences,” PG&E publicly announced that its Chairman and CEO Peter Darbee had sent a letter to the Chamber of Commerce criticizing it for its extreme position on climate change. “In our opinion, an intellectually honest argument over the best policy response to the challenges of climate change is one thing; disingenuous attempts to diminish or distort the reality of these challenges are quite another,” wrote Darbee.
Darbee was referring to the Chamber’s late August challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency to hold a public hearing on the scientific evidence for human-induced climate change along the lines of the 1925 “Scopes monkey trial” that pitted evolutionary theory against creationism.
Click here to read about other companies that are dropping their memberships in lobby groups or trade associations that have taken extreme positions opposing federal efforts to combat climate change.
In other news …
*National Association of Manufacturers Endorses the IMPACT Act. As we were about to send out this email, we learned that the National Association of Manufacturers had endorsed U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s clean energy manufacturing bill, the IMPACT Act. The Apollo Alliance has been working for months to build business support for the IMPACT Act, and NAM’s endorsement will bring in the weight of thousands of businesses behind the legislation. Click here to read the press release from Senator Brown’s office.
*Oct. 6th and 7th business lobby day on clean energy. The Apollo Alliance has joined with Ceres, the Clean Economy Network and others to provide businesses with an opportunity to advocate for a Senate clean energy and climate change bill. This is a pivotal moment for U.S. energy and climate policy, and Senators need to hear from businesses who believe these policies will create a thriving clean energy economy. For more information, contact Andrea Buffa at 415-371-1700 x209 or buffa@apolloalliance.org, or go to www.wecanlead.org.
*Join us at the Apollo Alliance Right Stuff Awards Dinner! Food, drink and inspiration will all be in abundance at the Apollo Alliance’s Right Stuff Awards Dinner at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco on Friday, Nov. 6. The event will honor four awardees whose work exemplifies the Apollo mission of creating the new clean energy economy, and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio will deliver the evening’s keynote speech.
We hope to see you there! Click here for more information about buying tickets or becoming an event sponsor, or contact Jessica Partch at (415) 371-1700, ext. 206 or partch@apolloalliance.org.
NAM Endorses IMPACT Act
Yesterday, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) sent a letter of support for Senator Sherrod Brown’s IMPACT Act to the Senator’s office. NAM joins more than 200 companies that support IMPACT through Apollo’s campaign to recruit business support.
Dorothy Coleman, Vice President for Tax and Domestic Policy at NAM wrote in the association’s letter of support:
By encouraging the development and manufacture of clean and efficient energy technologies, this legislation will promote U.S. job creation and U.S. competitiveness. The IMPACT Act is a critical step in strengthening the core of our nation’s manufacturing economy – the small and medium manufacturers – at a time when both they and our economy need it most.
The IMPACT Act would help small and mid-sized manufacturers retool for the clean energy economy by establishing a $30 billion manufacturing revolving loan fund and expanding Manufacturing Extension Partnerships to focus on clean energy manufacturing.
PG&E Takes a Stand Against U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Climate Extremism
Northern California utility company PG&E announced on Sept. 22 that it would withdraw from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because of the Chamber’s extreme position on climate change. Read more
200+ Businesses Endorse the IMPACT Act
As the Senate headed back into session last week, the list of manufacturers and other businesses that had endorsed U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s Investments for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technology (IMPACT) Act had grown to more than 200.
The IMPACT Act would boost domestic clean energy manufacturing and ensure that new clean energy jobs stay in the United States. Click here to learn more about the IMPACT Act.
New business endorsers include such companies as U.S. Hybrid Corporation of California, the Ohio Aerospace Institute, New World WindPower LLC of Montana, and Northeastern Plastics Inc. of Pennsylvania. Click here for a full list of IMPACT Act business endorsers.
Other organizations that have endorsed the IMPACT Act include Apollo Alliance; Alliance for American Manufacturing; Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT); Blue-Green Alliance; Campaign for America’s Future; Change to Win; Environmental Defense Fund; Green For All; High Road Strategies; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; Manufacturing Skill Standards Council; MAPA Group; Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center; Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); Policy Matters Ohio & Ohio Apollo; Precision Metalforming Association (PMA); Shepherd Advisors; Sierra Club; Solar Energy Industries Association; and United Steelworkers, among others.
If your company or organization would like to endorse the IMPACT Act, please click here.
AFL-CIO Convention Tackles Green Jobs
In addition to a fiery speech by President Obama and the election of Richard Trumka as the AFL-CIO’s new president, the AFL-CIO Convention, held this week in Pittsburgh, also featured panels and resolutions on green jobs. On Tuesday afternoon, Apollo Alliance President Jerome Ringo spoke at a “Building Green Jobs from the Ground Up” break-out session that covered topics like job creation opportunities in building energy efficiency retrofits, the potential for clean energy measures to revitalize American manufacturing, and the need for labor unions to work in coalition with other interest groups, like environmentalists. The session was moderated by Jeff Rickert, the director of the newly created AFL-CIO Center for Green Jobs. Jeff previously worked at the Apollo Alliance.
The convention delegates unanimously adopted a strong resolution on “Creating and Retaining Sustainable Good Green Jobs.” According to Barbara Byrd, secretary treasurer of the Oregon AFL-CIO, who also heads up the Oregon Apollo Alliance, the resolution endorses the work of the AFL-CIO’s Center for Green Jobs, and urges adequate funding for energy efficiency efforts, tightening of domestic content regulations and other incentives to encourage manufacturing in our country, and long-term investment in public transit. It calls for inclusion of strong labor standards for publicly funded construction and manufacturing projects. It also urges continued involvement of the U.S. labor movement with the international labor community involved in UN climate treaty discussions.
In a post on the Apollo blog, Byrd wrote, “It’s exciting to see the growing interest in organized labor in the crucial work of solving the climate crisis and creating good green jobs in coalition with our allies in the environmental, low-income and business communities!” Click here to read Byrd’s full post.
IMPACT Act Business Endorsers List Tops 200
As the Senate headed back into session last week, the list of manufacturers and other businesses that have endorsed U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s Investments for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technology (IMPACT) Act grew to more than 200. The IMPACT Act would boost domestic clean energy manufacturing and ensure that new clean energy jobs stay in the United States.
New business endorsers include such companies as U.S. Hybrid Corporation of California, the Ohio Aerospace Institute, New World WindPower LLC of Montana, and Northeastern Plastics Inc. of Pennsylvania. Click here for a full list of IMPACT Act business endorsers.
Other organizations that have endorsed the IMPACT Act include the Alliance for American Manufacturing; Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT); Blue-Green Alliance; Campaign for America’s Future; Change to Win; Environmental Defense Fund; Green For All; High Road Strategies; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; Manufacturing Skill Standards Council; MAPA Group; Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center; Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); Policy Matters Ohio & Ohio Apollo; Precision Metalforming Association (PMA); Shepherd Advisors; Sierra Club; Solar Energy Industries Association; and United Steelworkers, among others.
If your company or organization would like to endorse the IMPACT Act, please click here.
In Other News …
*If you’re trying to figure out whether to pursue a green career, check out the new Green Careers Resource Guide that was recently updated by Jim Cassio. You can download it for free and learn about everything from what occupations can lead to green jobs to what are the best online resources for people who want a green career. You might also want to peruse the Apollo Alliance’s web page on how to find a green-collar job.
*Another way to land a green career is through an apprenticeship program, which is a combination of on-the-job training and related instruction that teaches workers the practical and theoretical aspects of a highly skilled occupation. A new report released this week by the Center on Policy Initiatives analyzed construction apprenticeship programs in California and concluded that “with a proven record of success in producing a skilled workforce, apprenticeship programs provide the best means to train workers in the skills needed for the new green economy.” Click here to read the full report.
Construction Apprenticeship Training Key to Economic Recovery
San Diego’s Center on Policy Initiatives released a new report that links quality apprenticeship programs in the building trades to the future of California’s green economy and lifting low-income families out of poverty.
The report, Construction Apprenticeship Programs: Career Training for California\’s Recovery, demonstrates that apprenticeship programs are most effective when run collaboratively by labor and management.
“This report sheds light on how important it is to put Californians back to work in jobs that offer a pathway out of poverty and into America’s middle class,” said Phil Angelides, chairman of the Apollo Alliance. “Building-trades apprenticeship programs help stabilize and strengthen underprivileged communities, and they provide workers with the skills they need to thrive in the new green economy.”
The report concludes that construction apprenticeship:
- leads people from disadvantaged backgrounds to middle-class jobs;
- is the best vehicle for green job training;
- reduces workplace injuries and turnover; and
- provides consistent health insurance between jobs in a largely temporary industry.
Clean Energy Incentives Allow Simonton Windows to Rehire 400 Employees
Simonton Windows, a producer of vinyl windows and doors, announced in early August that it had extended offers to rehire all 402 seasonal and full-time workers—263 in West Virginia and 139 in Illinois—who were laid off by the company last winter, and that it is set to hire 55 additional employees in the near future. Read more
Kansas City’s Green Impact Zone – A Vision for 21st Century Urban Renewal
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.) had a vision for how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) could benefit the urban core of Kansas City, Missouri, where he served as mayor from 1991 - 1999. The city would create a 150-block “Green Impact Zone,” where federal dollars could spur the renewal of a poor and dilapidated area by creating a program to put residents to work weatherizing thousands of neighborhood homes. Read more
Van Jones’ Resignation Means it’s Time for Us All to Work Harder
Over Labor Day weekend, Van Jones resigned from his position as White House Special Advisor for Green jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. The decision was a blow to the clean energy movement, as Van was a powerful spokesperson on the potential of clean energy policies to save our environment and create green jobs that provide people with a pathway out of poverty.
Van was a board member of the Apollo Alliance and is a long-time supporter and friend. His resignation was brought on by a wave of lies and distortions about him in a series of vicious attacks by Fox News agitator, Glenn Beck, who has also been railing against the Apollo Alliance.
Let’s be clear: these attacks are not about Van or the Apollo Alliance. They’re about the most radical opponents of clean energy reform feeling threatened by the progress we’ve made as a country toward capping dangerous carbon emissions and establishing a clean energy, good jobs economy.
We cannot let Glenn Beck’s petty politics of personal destruction distract from the real work that needs to be done to create new jobs in the clean energy economy. This was a clarion call for all of us to redouble our efforts to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation and spur the transition to a clean energy, good jobs economy in the United States.
Upcoming Climate Events Build Up to Senate and International Climate Debates
As the Senate comes closer to debating a clean energy and climate bill, and only months remain before critical international climate negotiations begin in Copenhagen, many groups are taking the clean energy, good jobs message to the streets.
In New York City, Climate Week NYC, taking place from Sept. 20 – 26, will feature events, lectures and high-level meetings to demonstrate support for world leaders who are seeking to reach a global climate agreement. One of those events is “Jobs, Justice, Climate: A Rally for the Labor and Environment Movements,” being sponsored by the Cornell University Global Labor Institute, Realizing Rights, and the U.S. Climate Action Network. The September 21st rally will feature Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO, Bill McKibben of www.350.org and many others.
In Pittsburgh, during the G-20 Summit, the Steelworkers, Blue-Green Alliance and Alliance for Climate Protection are planning a “Rally for Clean Energy Jobs” on September 23 at 5:30 PM. The rally will take place at Point State Park. For more information, go to the Repower America website.
New Studies Show Job Creation Potential of ACES
Two new studies document the job creation potential of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) that was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives at the end of June. An analysis released on Tuesday by the Center for American Progress looks at the ACES funds that would go toward state and local government energy efficiency programs. It finds that the state and local programs in ACES would create up to 137,000 jobs in 2015 from energy efficiency investments that year. It would also save consumers up to $63 billion on their electricity bills from 2012 to 2020.
Another new study, by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, says that if the Senate improved the energy efficiency measures included in its version of ACES, those measures alone could create more than 569,000 new jobs nationwide in the next ten years and provide $283 in annual savings for every American household.
In other news …
*Check out this map of clean tech start-ups on the Triple Pundit website. It shows the locations of 101 clean-tech start-ups and uses icons to illustrate which clean tech industries they represent.
*Apollo Alliance has more clean energy success stories for your perusal. This week our “Signature Stories” features transit-friendly Portland, Ore., where United Streetcar has just built the first American-made streetcar in over half a century, with the help of funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Click here to read the story.
You can keep track of the quickening pace of state and federal action on clean energy policy on our Apollo Blog and Daily Digest.
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