Green activists find new ally in US unions

[formercia]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081214/eu_climate_new_partners.html
AP

Sunday December 14, 12:09 pm ET
By Vanessa Gera, Associated Press Writer
Strange bedfellows: Green activists find new allies in US unions who see job opportunities

POZNAN, Poland (AP) -- Some U.S. labor groups that have long feared environmental campaigns as a threat to American jobs are starting to see advantages in going green.

This evolution was clear at this week's U.N. climate talks in Poland, where several American labor groups and environmental activists made joint appeals for policies that would promote high-tech renewable energy as the answer to both climate change and job losses.


About 25 representatives of U.S. unions were in Poznan -- about twice the number at last year's U.N. talks in Bali, Indonesia -- representing workers from the electrical, transit, steel, service and other sectors.
--snip--

[Radical Activist]

1. Every time the UAW or another union says the environment costs jobs

its a big gift with a bow on top to the Chamber of Commerce and every enemy of the progressive movement. In case anyone hasn't noticed, the auto workers making fuel efficient cars aren't the ones losing their jobs right now. This is important work.

[jwirr]

2. They have been working together for a long time: ApolloAlliance.

[Luminous Animal]

3. Exactly.

http://apolloalliance.org/

[formercia]

4. Rebuild America Clean and Green

http://apolloalliance.org/news/investment/fast-track-for-national-rail-transit/
Rebuild America Clean and Green


Establish a national energy efficiency commitment to reduce energy use in new and existing buildings at least 30 percent by 2025.

Provide the support necessary to produce 25 percent of the nation’s power from renewable and recycled energy resources by 2025.

Bring the power grid into the 21st century.

Improve efficiency by 20 percent in existing power plants and industries by 2025.
Connect America’s 21st century neighborhoods and cities with world-class transit systems.

Strengthen and improve America’s transportation infrastructure by “fixing it first.”
2
Make It in America


Rebuild the U.S. auto industry by investing in high-efficiency vehicles.

Invest in a national low-carbon fuel infrastructure and next generation alternative fuels.

Restore America’s manufacturing leadership to meet the demands of the clean energy future.
3
Restore America’s Technological Leadership


Double national investment in clean energy research and
development.

Establish a National Energy Innovation Fund to invest in the most promising new clean energy technologies emerging from our nation’s laboratories.
4
Tap the Productivity of the American People


Train America’s workers for the new clean energy economy.

Ensure the transition to America’s clean energy economy
creates widely shared economic opportunities.
5
Reinvest in America
Establish a federal “cap and invest” program to generate and strategically reinvest the resources necessary to build the new clean energy economy.