Ad Highlights Workers in the Green Economy, Encourages Strong Climate Legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 15, 2009) The BlueGreen Alliance began running an ad this week in Ohio entitled, “America Wants Green Jobs” to highlight working people in the green economy and to encourage strong climate change legislation to create millions of jobs building the clean energy economy while reducing global warming and moving America towards energy independence.

View the ad here, or visit www.bluegreenalliance.org.

“We can put millions of people back to work building the clean energy economy,” said David Foster, executive director of the BlueGreen Alliance. “Strong clean energy and climate change legislation will quickly and effectively create more good, green jobs across the country, while at the same time helping to solve global warming and increasing our energy independence.”

The ad features several workers at the Springboro, Ohio Cobasys manufacturing facility, where members of IUE-CWA, the Industrial Division of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), are helping to manufacture hybrid car batteries.

The BlueGreen Alliance said that the jobs in the green economy are many of the jobs that already exist today. For example, investing in wind power can create jobs for iron and steelworkers, sheet metal workers, and machinists. Investments in solar power can create jobs engineers and welders, and building retrofits can create jobs for electricians, carpenters and truck drivers.

“The green economy holds enormous potential to put people back to work in manufacturing and construction,” said Dave McCall, District 1 Director of the United Steelworkers. “With unemployment reaching 9.4 percent in our state in February, we need strong clean energy legislation to put people back to work and move us toward energy independence.”

The BlueGreen Alliance is a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy. Launched by the Sierra Club and United Steelworkers in 2006, BGA has since grown to include the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) – uniting more than six million people in pursuit of good jobs, a clean environment and a green economy.

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