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This week, I traveled through the ailing industrial parks of Gary, Indiana, to talk with steelworkers in a large union hall. I had come to attend the Made in America rally and to hear union leaders and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson talk about green jobs. But I also went to listen to workers themselves, and they made two things clear to me. First, they know their jobs are vulnerable. Some are lucky enough to still work at one of the few operating mills, but layoffs loom just around the corner in these tough economic times. And second, they see a clear path out of this grim picture: legislation that will expand the market for clean energy and generate new jobs.
Tom Conway, the international vice president of the United Steelworkers, told the crowd that it takes more than 250 tons of steel to make just one single wind turbine. Gary is a steel town, and a shift to renewable energy means job security for local workers. "This is about jobs, jobs, jobs," he said. "And this is about leaving a clean environment for our kids." I am no firebrand, but after I spoke, people said they appreciated seeing environmental leaders coming out to where the jobs are at stake, where policy decisions will make the difference between a paycheck and a pink slip. These workers don't support climate legislation because environmental groups or labor unions told them to. They support it because they believe in it.
According to a recent report by the Political Economy Research Institute, investment in the clean energy economy could generate 38,013 green jobs in Indiana. More than 20,000 of those jobs could go to workers with a high school diploma or less, offering families a path out of poverty. But Indiana can't realize this promise on its own. The climate bill (H.R. 2454) that passed the House in June and is headed to the Senate this fall will dramatically expand the market for green energy solutions that can be made in Indiana's existing factories.
The workers I spoke to in Gary expressed frustration with their representatives. They've watched one mill after another get shuttered. Now they see a legislative solution to their problem but they aren't sure their senators are listening. Indiana is home to two critical swing votes: Senators Evan Bayh and Dick Lugar. The workers I spoke to in Gary want their senators to support a strong clean energy bill. And standing in that union hall, in the shadow of Gary's many silent steel mills, I couldn't imagine why Indiana's senators would pass up the biggest jobs opportunity their state has seen in decades.
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NRDC President Frances Beinecke talks with steelworkers in Indiana
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