WASHINGTON — The United Steelworkers (USW), the Sierra Club, and the Natural Resources Defense Council have launched a national campaign to promote renewable energy. The Green Jobs for America campaign will highlight the potential to create more than 820,000 new jobs throughout the United States through a greater commitment to renewable energy. In addition to encouraging renewable investments from the private sector, the campaign will also emphasize the kinds of policies that are needed to fight climate change and expand clean energy production. The Blue Green Alliance, a strategic partnership formed by the USW and the Sierra Club in 2006, is also participating in the campaign.

The Green Jobs for America campaign will run through mid-September, focusing on 12 states — Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin — that stand to gain nearly 170,000 new manufacturing jobs in wind turbine manufacturing as well as nearly 93,000 new manufacturing jobs making the parts for solar power equipment. Teams of organizers from the participating organizations will undertake grassroots organizing activities, conduct a series of public events, gather signatures on petitions, and release studies highlighting the potential for tens of thousands of new green jobs in each state.

Publication date: 05/05/2008