Climate Jobs Justice

CLIMATE, JOBS, JUSTICE

Edition 3

En Espanol

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.

House vote on Build Back Better makes a huge leap forward in addressing climate change

Working families have taken a  step forward in our fight to be respected, protected, and paid after the House passed H.R. 5376, the Build Back Better (BBB) Act of 2021 last week. The Build Back Better Act is a historic investment in-home care workers and care services, major progress on climate justice, essential protections for immigrants, and other meaningful investments for America’s working families. 

This legislation makes a critically needed down payment on the just and clean future we owe our children. These bold actions to combat climate change and pollution that are disproportionately impacting communities of color include measures to cut emissions by at least 50 percent by 2030; create hundreds of thousands of good union jobs with incentives to spur new domestic supply chains and technologies and; address toxic air and water pollution in disadvantaged communities.

Now the Build Back Better Act  heads to the U.S. Senate to get this to the finish line.  Read President Mary Kay Henry’s statement about what this transformative investment means to working people. Please share on Twitter and Facebook! Retweet President Henry here! 

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act makes investments in addressing the climate crisis and environmental injustice

After an all-day session on November 5th that stretched into the early hours of November 6th, Congress passed the bi-partisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), along with the Rule for considering the Build Back Better Act (BBB). The IIJA makes $300 billion in important investments to combat climate change and pollution. These provisions include funding to replace more lead service lines and other clean water projects, climate resilience and adaptation for communities of color, energy efficiency programs and clean transportation. The Build Back Better Act which is now in the House and will move into the Senate includes an additional $550 billion in investments into climate change mitigation, resilience and environmental justice.

SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry said in a statement that the infrastructure bill is a major step forward toward passing President Biden’s full Build Back Better agenda, but more has to be done to deliver for working families. See how the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will impact your state here.

EPA study shows the many ways climate change impacts racial minorities the hardest.

People standing together one person in the front with a sign saying There Is no Planet B

According to a recent study by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), people of color in the US face the first and worst impacts of climate change, including loss of property and loss of life as a result of extreme heat and sea level rise. The study warns that if the planet warms 2 degrees Celsius Black people are 40 percent more likely than other groups to live in places where extreme temperatures will cause more deaths.

Read in The Washington Post.

DID YOU KNOW?

Climate change impacts immigration in the US.

Climate change is a key driver of immigration in our country. As extreme weather events like hurricanes, flooding and earthquakes add to economic and political instability in countries like Mexico, Haiti and Guatemala, millions of families are seeking to rebuild their lives in the United States.

Right now, the climate crisis is manifesting itself on the border. Families in Haiti, displaced by various crises, including the climate change crisis, look to the US for an opportunity to rebuild their lives.

It is even estimated that in 2017 24 million people were forcibly displaced as a result of extreme weather events: floods, droughts, fires and intensified storms. In 2020, that number increased to 30 million. A 2021 survey of Guatemalan migrants conducted by the International Organization for Migration found that one in five were fleeing from natural disasters and climate change.

With storms, like Hurricanes Harvey, Maria, and most recently Ida (65 billion in damages and over 100 lives lost) projected to continue to grow in intensity over the coming years, the growing need for a pathway to citizenship for millions of dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders and undocumented workers.

Highlights from the UN Climate Change Conference of Parties 26 (COP26)

President Biden pledged that the US will reduce carbon emission by 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 during the opening day of COP26. Joined by 120 heads of state, the President made a commitment to be a net-zero economy by 2050 while touting the Build Back Better Act. The legislative package, now being considered by Congress. makes a critically needed down payment on the just and clean future we owe our children. These investments include measures to cut emissions by 50 percent by 2030, create thousands of good union jobs and address toxic pollution in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

During the COP26, world leaders also gave support for the U.S.- and the EU-led Global Methane Pledge to take voluntary actions to contribute to a collective effort to reduce global methane emissions at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030. Methane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas responsible for nearly a third of near-term climate change.

Over 100 countries, who have combined emissions equalling almost half of global methane emissions, have already signed on to the pledge.

News from the States

ILLINOIS:

Illinois lawmakers just passed what is considered the nation's most equitable climate bill Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (SB2408). This historic climate legislation will put Illinois on a path to a 100% clean energy future while providing a just transition for workers and communities historically dependent on dirty fossil fuels, enacting some of the toughest utility accountability measures in the nation, and creating jobs and wealth in Illinois’ Black and brown communities. The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act is supported by both labor and environmental justice groups including Climate Jobs IL and the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition. Also, the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition will be recognized at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow for their work on this legislation. The coalition was also awarded the United Nations Global Goals Award on October 20th for their leadership in working toward UN Goal #7 - Affordable & Clean Energy.

MINNESOTA:

SEIU Healthcare Minnesota Executive Vice President Jigme Ugen and members joined thousands of protestors at the Minnesota State Capitol to oppose Enbridge’s Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline. Line 3 is yet the latest chapter in the scorched earth history of the many treaty betrayals and genocidal atrocities committed by state and federal governments in Indian Country.

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