Guest Opinion: Bill would boost jobs, environment for workers

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2009/06/20/opinion/guest/60-boostjobs.txt

Published on Saturday, June 20, 2009

By ROY HOUSEMAN and BOB CLARK
At first glance, the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club in Montana do not have a lot in common. We sometimes find ourselves at opposite sides of the aisle on issues related to public land. Most USW members in Montana work in extractive industries like mining, timber and oil and gas. The Montana Chapter of the Sierra Club focuses on protecting public lands from unwise management and development. Yet USW and the Sierra Club both want a healthy, working environment that doesn't stop at the shop floor but extends to the streams we fish and the mountains we hunt. We want fair wages and forward-thinking policy that gives Montanans the most from their labor.

That is why the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club, in coordination with several other national labor unions and conservation organizations, formed the Blue-Green Alliance. We want to protect our environment and our jobs. The two don't have to be mutually exclusive.

Blue-Green Alliance
The Blue-Green Alliance recognizes that one of the largest threats to the United States and the planet is climate change. That is why the Blue-Green Alliance applauds passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (HR2454) through the House Energy and Commerce Committee. This historic move is critical because it moves us one step closer to a clean-energy future. We are now working to defend the strong aspects of the bill, strengthen the weak sections and pass a strong and comprehensive clean energy and climate bill. Such a bill stands to promote energy efficiency and limit global warming pollution with the creation of mechanisms to cap and reduce carbon, while also producing good, family-sustaining jobs.

The Sierra Club and Steelworkers support legislation that works to reduce carbon emissions, fixes an energy grid that leaks up to 20 percent of the energy we produce and upgrades public building efficiencies to save taxpayers money. These measures will create jobs across Montana and the country. We support a strong renewable-energy standard that lowers our dependence on foreign oil and creates jobs developing a host of clean energy such as wind, solar and biofuels. These jobs include iron- and steelworkers, millwrights, machinists, electricians, carpenters, operating engineers, roofers, insulation workers, truck drivers, civil engineers, welders, metal fabricators, engine assemblers, bus drivers, dispatchers, locomotive engineers, computer software engineers and electrical engineers.

FULL story at link.