CLIMATE, JOBS, JUSTICE

Edition 2

SEIU members and worker leaders in the Fight for $15 and a Union are confronted daily by the impacts of climate change and environmental injustice. This newsletter offers a snapshot of how we’re combating climate change and fighting against environmental injustice in our workplaces and communities as well as calling on major industries, corporations, and governments to protect the health, safety and long-term economic well-being of all working people across America.

Join Us to #SEALTHEDEAL for Climate, Care, Jobs and Justice on August 19.

Find an action near you at http://sealthedeal2021.com

The US Senate on Tuesday pushed forward two key pieces of legislation, first approving a $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IJA) and then narrowly adopting the blueprint for a $3.5 trillion comprehensive framework to enact the Build Back Better Agenda. Just after August recess, the House will first take up this larger bill and then vote on the IJA. After that the Senate is expected to vote on the reconciliation. Together these two bills provide substantial funding for clean water and climate initiatives, which are essential to building our country back better and ensuring that workers have unions and a voice in their own futures. That’s why we need to make sure Congress hears our demands over the August recess. SEIU will be hosting numerous events to emphasize how important it will be to fund CARE WORK, CLIMATE ACTION, UNION JOBS and JUSTICE.

Please use this link to find an action near you on August 19th!

Free Concert this Friday Sponsored by SEIU & Allies

Been missing live music and live near Philadelphia? Don’t live near Philly but looking for a way to enjoy your Friday? Working Families Party, MoveOn Civic Action and MoveOn Political Action, Service Employees International Union and National Domestic Workers Alliance are putting on a show you don’t want to miss! Throughout the concert, artists, activists and other speakers will uplift a core message: Our communities need a rightful path to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic NOW. Coming off a year of historic suffering, speakers will highlight the urgency of the intersecting crises Americans face, including climate disasters and unemployment, and remind Democrats in Congress that voters expect them to deliver on their commitments to bold, popular policies that will tackle decades of disinvestment and improve the post-pandemic lives of working people. In person tickets are free at EventBrite Can’t make it in person? No problem the show will be livestreamed at https://www.cantwait.live/

 

DID YOU KNOW?

The International Panel on Climate Change has just released a new report saying that (barring comprehensive world wide action to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050) the planet is now expected to warm by 1.5 C by 2040-- a date much sooner than previously thought.

The report stresses that the 1.5 degree warmer world will be characterized by more frequent and intense heat waves, droughts, floods, and fires.

It could lead to more frequent droughts- like the one currently gripping the western United States which has ushered in an early and destructive fire season. It has forced thousands to evacuate, and sent dangerous smoke plumes all the way to the east coast. The Dixie Fire burning in the Feather River watershed that supplies much of the state's drinking water is now the 2nd largest fire in the California history and has destroyed the historic town of Greenville. The Dixie Fire is just one of more than 100 fires burning in 11 western states. As of August 6, 2021, nearly 39,000 wildfires have consumed over 3.4 million acres. But the United States is not alone, six regions in the Northern Hemisphere including British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario Canada, Siberia, Finland, Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus are experiencing large climate driven fires. In addition to the human and property loss and health impacts of choking smoke, smoke particulates wreak havoc with our progress of cutting CO2 emissions and destroy forests which act as carbon sinks trapping CO2. Indeed forests in Oregon that burned in the Bootleg fire included 90,000 acres of forest set aside to offset carbon emissions.

News from the States

Oregon: This month we are spotlighting the work of SEIU Local 503, whose members have made Climate Justice a major priority. After Republican legislators walked out of the Capitol to kill a Clean Energy Jobs bill in 2019, SEIU 503 was able to work with partners to pass landmark environmental justice legislation in 2021. Their efforts were spearheaded by President Mike Powers and the local’s Climate Justice Committee, working closely with the Oregon Clean Energy Opportunity campaign and Fair Shot.

Among the victories secured this session:

• HB 2021 (100% Clean Energy for All) an equity focused transition to 100% Clean Electricity by 2040
• HB 2475 will help provide low income rate assistance.
• HB 2842 (Healthy Homes) will make homes safer to live in and more affordable to heat and cool.
• SCR 17 adopts Environmental justice principles and recognizes the right of all people to clean air and water.