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LABOR & CLIMATE NEWS
Connecticut Group Argues Climate, Jobs Are Not Issues in Opposition
As unemployment and hard times lead many to believe the issue is "protecting jobs vs. protecting the environment," labor, religious, environmental, and community leaders in Connecticut decided to join together proactively to fight for job-creating climate protection...
Labor, Climate, and the KXL: Interpreting the New AFL-CIO Statement on Energy and Jobs
At its just-completed Executive Council meeting, the AFL-CIO issued a new "Statement on Energy and Jobs." While the statement is broadly in line with past AFL-CIO policy, it is worth close examination by those concerned about our twin crises of climate and economy. To...
5 Reasons Why the Keystone Pipeline is Bad for the Economy
by Brendan Smith The American labor movement is once again facing a most controversial issue -- the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. While the KXL debate has largely centered around the environmental risks, from labor's perspective opening up the Canadian Tar...
The Flobots: Reviving the Poetry of Politics
[by Brendan Smith] In 2006, Neil Young told the Los Angeles Times that the silence of young songwriters during the Bush era compelled him to retake the stage as a protest singer: "I was waiting for someone to come along, some young singer 18 to 22 years old, to write...
Do the Math: Invest While We Divest
[by Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith] Do you want your college tuition or tax dollars invested to increase droughts, storms, forest fires, and crop failures -- and an unending series of Katrinas and Sandys? Or do you want them used to lower greenhouse gases on your...
When the Earth Roars: Organizing in the Age of Extreme Weather
[by Brendan Smith; Cross-posted with Grist and Huffington Post] A new insurgent force has joined the climate wars: planet Earth. This summer, she's blanketed two-thirds of the country in drought; turned New Mexico and Colorado into blazing infernos; crumbled roads in...
Call for Labor and Environmentalists to Join Occupy Wall Street for One-Year Anniversary Convergence
On the occasion of its one-year anniversary, Occupy Wall Street has invited all members of the 99% to New York City for three days of education, celebration, and direct action from September 15-17. [Read the OWS S17 Call to Action. View the OWS S17 promotional video]...
Occupy and the 99% Opposition
[by Jeremy Brecher; Original published at Nation.com] Something is happening, but we don't know yet what it is. The first half of 2012 saw a wave of people-powered actions protesting foreclosures, evictions, racial profiling, student debt, union busting, climate...
After the Failure of Rio+20: A Human Preservation Movement?
[by Jeremy Brecher] A quarter-century ago, when "Save the Whales!" was a popular slogan, a New Yorker cartoon showed one whale asking another, "But can they save themselves?" In the early 21st century, experts and ordinary people alike are asking each other how we...
Fossil-fuel subsidies are the real job killers
[by May Boeve and Brendan Smith; original published by Grist] How many lobbyists does it take to defend billions in subsidies for one of the most profitable industries in the world? 786. That's the size of the army that oil and gas companies maintain in Washington to...
Occupy May Day: Not Your Usual General Strike
[On March 24, Occupy Wall Street held a Disrupt Dirty Power action to kick off a month of climate and environmental protests leading up to Earth Day; Labor Network for Sustainability's Jeremy Brecher was the main speaker. (WSJ Marketwatch posted a video of the street...
Occupy Climate Change
[by Jeremy Brecher; originally published by The Nation; watch a video interview of Jeremy here: Occupy Climate Change Video] Occupy Wall Street's original Declaration of the City of New York, in September, listed a litany of issues, from foreclosures and bailouts to...
Dirty vs. Green Jobs: Labor’s Keystone Dilemma
[by Brendan Smith and Jeremy Brecher] These are tough times to be a construction worker in America. While other sectors of the economy are showing signs of life, the unemployment rate in the construction industry is getting worse, not better - rising from 13% to 16%...
24 Hours to Stop the Pipeline – Sign the Petition NOW!
The fight against the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline has reached another crucial turning point. Big Oil has teamed up with Republicans in Congress to push a bill that would strip away decision making authority from the President and allow the Senate to resurrect the...
Keystone XL opponents need a jobs program
[by Brendan Smith and Jeremy Brecher; crossposted with Grist] Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline are taking a well-deserved victory lap. The Obama administration's decision to reject TransCanada's pipeline proposal "” at least for now "” represents an historic win...
