[Second in the series “Labor goes to Copenhagen"]

At the core of global labor’s strategy for climate protection is the idea of a “just transition” to a low-carbon economy.

A just transition means that the burden of change that benefits everyone will not be placed disproportionately on a few.  It means that those most vulnerable to change will be protected.  It means that the process of change will increase social justice for workers, women, the poor, and all oppressed groups.  (more…)

[This is the first in a series of LNS posts as representatives of trade unions around the world head off to Copenhagen]

While world leaders play the “blame game” for their failure to negotiate a binding climate agreement in Copenhagen, trade unions from around the world, almost unnoticed, have forged their own common approach to climate protection.

Unions in different countries and industries inevitably have different interests.  But remarkably they have been able to come together as a unified force around the necessity for protecting the climate, protecting workers, and protecting the world’s poor. (more…)

The Labor Network for Sustainability (LNS) released a White Paper today arguing that current House and Senate climate bills do not do enough to protect workers, and laying out an alternative strategy for worker protection.

The White Paper, Climate Legislation Must Provide a Just Transition for Workers, kicks of the LNS’s campaign to strengthen provisions for workers whose jobs may be threatened by climate change legislation. (more…)

While fewer and fewer people are willing to publicly deny the validity of global warming science, those who oppose action to protect the climate have taken up a new strategy:  Denying that climate change will have a major impact on the U.S. economy.

This denial is rejected by most economists who have studied climate change.  (more…)