The youth climate movement Sunrise has issued a call for a federal Jobs Guarantee that would provide jobs for all, focused on the transition to a climate-safe economy. Sunrise is a movement “to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process.
Two Sunrise leaders, Varshini Prakash and Sarah Meyerhoff, called in their article “It’s Time for the Climate Movement to Embrace a Federal Jobs Guarantee” for a policy through which “the government directly employs anyone who wants a job but doesn’t have one.” Polling firm Civis Analytics says a jobs guarantee is one of the most popular issues they’ve ever polled 52% in support and 29% opposed. Polling by Sunrise indicates that support for a jobs guarantee focused on climate protection is even more popular.
Sunrise’s “Climate Jobs Guarantee Policy Primer” says that by making a Jobs Guarantee a headline demand for the climate movement, we can end the “jobs vs. environment” fallacy forever, rally unprecedented public support behind climate action, and ensure that JG proposals include jobs for a just and rapid transition to a zero-carbon, climate-resilient economy.
LNS is working with Sunrise and other groups to develop a labor-friendly strategy for a climate jobs guarantee.