BlueGreen Alliance | Duluth: Minnesota and Wisconsin Leaders Set Stage for 21st Century Transportation Investments

Duluth: Minnesota and Wisconsin Leaders Set Stage for 21st Century Transportation Investments

Joined by Duluth Mayor Don Ness and Superior City Council President Dan Olson, the BlueGreen Alliance held a roundtable discussion on rebuilding the state's transportation infrastructure to revitalize the Two Harbor's economy.

September 9, 2011

DULUTH, MN (July 27, 2011) Joined by Duluth Mayor Don Ness and Superior City Council President Dan Olson, the BlueGreen Alliance-a Minnesota-based partnership or labor unions and environmental organizations-held a roundtable discussion in Duluth on rebuilding the state’s transportation infrastructure to revitalize the Two Harbor’s economy and create good jobs in the area. The transportation roundtable was part of the BlueGreen Alliance’s Jobs21! initiative, which is aimed at creating good jobs in the 21st century economy.

“The Arrowhead Region of Minnesota and much of Northern Wisconsin is still reeling from the impacts of the recent recession,” said Mayor Ness. “We need to make strategic transportation investments in Minnesota both at the state and national level. We can get people to work moving people and goods more efficiently and ensuring that our businesses thrive and compete effectively.”

“Modernizing our transportation infrastructure and investing in high-speed rail and other transit options can create good jobs throughout the region while reducing pollution, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and making Minnesota a key player in the national and global economy,” said Tarryl Clark, the former Minnesota Senate Assistant Majority Leader and Co-Chair of the Jobs21! initiative.

Roundtable participants represented a diverse array of business, labor, community and environmental stakeholders.

“A modern, efficient transportation system is key to a thriving community and economy,” said Dan Olson, who also serves as the Business Manager of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 1091. “There’s no doubt that investing in transportation will create good jobs and get people to work now.”

Jobs21! is a national grassroots campaign for good jobs in the 21st century economy, coordinated by the BlueGreen Alliance, a Minnesota-based national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations launched in 2006 by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club, which has now grown to include 10 major unions and four ofAmerica’s most influential environmental organizations.

Participants in the roundtable discussed investments in transportation infrastructure, including highways, rail, transit systems, and biking and walking infrastructure, as well as the production of advanced and more efficient vehicles.