Achievements
In 2009, the Apollo Alliance marked these achievements:
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
In February 2009 Congress approved and President Barack Obama signed the breakthrough clean energy and green-collar jobs provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The $787 billion stimulus legislation that President Obama signed in a Denver museum partially powered by a rooftop solar array contains $86 billion in clean energy and green-collar job programs, plus $27.5 billion in road and highway construction funds, much of which state transportation departments will use to repair infrastructure and not on building new highways. As Apollo noted since the package was introduced on January 15, the provisions that formed a big part of the foundation of the stimulus was funding to build new transit and high speed rail lines, weatherize homes, develop next generation batteries for clean vehicles, scale up wind and solar power, build a modern electric grid, and train a new generation of green-collar workers. In every way, the clean energy provisions of the stimulus bill are a surpassing achievement. The magnitude of the investment and the bill’s comprehensive sweep reflect the unleashing of a pent-up demand for a new way to power and employ America — $17.7 billion for rail development, $34 billion for energy efficiency, $7.9 billion for renewable energy, $10.9 billion for a smart electric grid, $3.3 billion for next generation batteries and alternative fuel vehicles, $4.5 billion for energy research. The clean energy focus of the stimulus was inspired by the Apollo Alliance’s vision, and the specific content of many of the bill’s provisions was influenced by policy proposals that the Apollo Alliance made last year in The New Apollo Program and the Apollo Economic Recovery Act. “The recovery bill represents the focused work of labor, business, environmental and social justice organizations who developed a clear strategy about where the nation needed to go, and worked together to achieve it,” said Phil Angelides, former California treasurer and chairman of the Apollo Alliance. As Senator Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, noted in a statement. “We’ve talked about moving forward on these ideas for decades. The Apollo Alliance has been an important factor in helping us develop and execute a strategy that makes great progress on these goals and in motivating the public to support them.”
In 2008, the Apollo Alliance marked these achievements:
New Apollo Program
In October 2008 The Apollo Alliance held town hall meetings in six states to introduce The New Apollo Program, a comprehensive national economic strategy founded on the principles of clean energy and good jobs. The carefully constructed plan calls for investing $500 billion over the next ten years on specific steps for generating clean power, improving energy conservation and efficiency, cutting energy bills, restoring America’s technological and industrial preeminence, and creating 5 million high-quality jobs. Culminating a year of intensive research, The New Apollo Program charts a path to new prosperity through an American landscape buffeted by high energy prices, stagnant wages, widespread foreclosures, institutional collapses, and dangerously warming temperatures.
The New Apollo Program sets out specific steps the nation must take to scale up and accelerate the development of the clean energy, good jobs economy. The publication of the national economic development strategy was supported by the most comprehensive and sophisticated communications and dissemination strategy in the organization’s history. The pieces included the publication and printing of a 24-page full color strategy and a 4-page full color summary, reporting 12 signature stories from across the country that illustrate the dimensions of the clean energy, good jobs economy, the development of an interactive online map that features the 12 articles, and recruiting mainstream and new media attention to the strategy.
The Alliance also held a high-profile event at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, which attracted over 400 guests. And we marketed the strategy at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.
Apollo Economic Recovery Act
Introduced in December, the Apollo Economic Recovery Act was a first year down payment on building a clean energy, good jobs “made in America” economy as envisioned in The New Apollo Program. Just as important, it was intended as an immediate shot in the arm to boost America’s economy. The Apollo Alliance saw the proposal as a highly visible policy step to support American businesses and workers so that they can set their feet firmly on the path to the new clean energy economy. Coupled with other stimulus measures being considered by the President-elect and Congress, the Apollo Economic Recovery Act would provide e a critical jolt to America’s economy by investing approximately $50 billion to immediately create or retain over 650,000 direct jobs, and an additional 1.3 million indirect jobs in communities across the country. The Apollo Economic Recovery Act also would provide training for at least 300,000 more Americans to participate in the clean energy economy through workforce development, apprenticeship, service and education programs.
Green-Collar Jobs In America’s Cities
In 2008, the Apollo Alliance published another major report: Green-Collar Jobs in America’s Cities. Published in March, the report identified the growth of training programs across the United States and set out specific steps cities can take to develop new ways to train the next generation of green-collar workers. The report was supported by an on and offline news release, a news conference in Pittsburgh, several events that explored the report’s findings. The Alliance has published has distributed 25,000 copies of the print report. It’s been downloaded more than 10,000 times from the Web site, and has prompted dozens of media interviews since publication.
Newark’s Green Future Summit
Held on September 12-13, 2008, Newark’s Green Future Summit was the first time a predominantly African American city decided to comprehensively pursue a new development strategy based on clean energy and creating green-collar jobs. The summit, which the Apollo Alliance and the City of Newark planned and organized in collaboration with a number of other national and local organizations, heard from many of the top national experts in sustainable development. The summit’s intent: Helping Newark transform itself into a national showcase of how to solve poverty and joblessness, respond to serious public health concerns, and engage new business activity around energy-efficient, resource-conserving, and pollution-reducing tools, equipment, and practices. First announced in September 2007 at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, the summit reflected Mayor Cory Booker’s commitment to executing some of the green development strategies that have proven to work in other cities.The communications and dissemination strategy that the Apollo Alliance deployed prior to, during, and after the summit were:
1. Organizing and holding the two-day event at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, and attracting more than 300 participants.
2. An on and offline news advisory and a separate news release, prepared in collaboration with Newark’s public affairs officers, that was disseminated to new and mainstream media, and attracted strong broadcast and print coverage.
3. Apollo Alliance reporting and videotaping of the event, posted on the Apollo Web site on a dedicated Green Future Summit page.
4. Continuing coverage of follow-up activities on the Apollo Weekly Update and Apollo Blog.
Washington State Climate Action and Green Jobs Act
In March 2008 Governor Christine Gregoire signed the first statewide legislation to link global warming solutions with opportunities to invest in workforce development in the growing clean energy sector. The Washington State Apollo Alliance was instrumental in galvanizing support for the new statute.
Communications
In an era marked by the declining ability and interest of the mainstream media to tackle complex issues, the Apollo Alliance understands the imperative of telling its own story. In doing so, principally online, but also in mainstream articles and broadcasts that feature our work, and a series of our own print reports and well-attended public events, Apollo is reaching a large national audience of citizens and decision makers. We also are simultaneously framing the various facets of the clean energy, good jobs economy for the new and mainstream media.
Quoted Often and At Length
Evidence of our ability to be seen and heard is readily apparent. Apollo’s board, staff, and supporters, as well as our online articles, videos, and features have become credible and prominent source of news and commentary in the mainstream and new media. The Apollo Alliance is among the most quoted, cited, and featured progressive policy organizations in the nation.
Web Site
The Apollo Alliance Web site is the organization’s principal tool for accomplishing multiple communications objectives. The Apollo Web site, recently redesigned to be more graphically interesting and easier to manage, attracts 90,000 visitors and more than 200,000 page views monthly. Both figures are triple what they were in February 2008. The Apollo Web site features these online assets:
1. Apollo Weekly Update: An email-alert to as many as 82,000 supporters nationally, and generally opened by 25 to 30 percent of recipients weekly.
2. Apollo Daily Digest: A succinct and topical compendium of news, commentary, events, items of interest to people interested in developments in the clean energy, good jobs sector. Posted on the home page and emailed daily to a growing list of subscribers.
3. Apollo Blog: Regular publication of events, items, and news of interest with an Apollo perspective.
4. Facts and Figures: Succinct compendium of current facts about specific facets of the clean energy, good jobs economy. Recent Data Points include details of clean energy job numbers and where they exist, investment patterns in clean energy sectors, and transportation spending.
5. Rapid Response Talking Points: Facts and perspective from the Apollo Alliance to partners, news media, policy makers intended to reply quickly to breaking news events, disseminated in email alerts, to media and Alliance partners, and posted on the Apollo Blog.
6. Original reporting, commentary, signature stories: Text pieces, accompanied by photographs, produced by staff and freelance writers, that disclose new facts, faces, and places in support of the clean energy, good jobs message. Generally posted once a week to the home page.
7. Apollo Productions: Multi-media, videos, Power Points, sound slides, interactive maps, motion graphics that are produced by Apollo for dissemination on and offline, supporting speakers and events.
8. Apollo Feedback: Dispatches from Apollo supporters posted once weekly to the Web site in a letter to the editor format.
Online Engagement
Apollo actively engages its supporters and partners with email and other action tools. We send a Weekly Update of our activity to the Apollo email list that numbers up to 100,000 addresses nationally. In addition we directly engage our supporters with appeals for direct action to alert policy makers, to sign petitions, to secure funding, and for other directives and appeals. One important outcome for Apollo is the ability to sign up new members of our coalition. This year alone we have added thousands of new supporters who are involved and regularly participate in our clean energy, good jobs campaign.
