Workers, community members poised to transition America to a clean energy economy

Dayton, OH – Workers, business owners, labor leaders and community members came together Monday night in Dayton, Ohio, for the Made in America Jobs Tour, highlighting how the benefits of transitioning to a clean energy economy will create jobs while reducing harmful carbon pollution and breaking our dependence on foreign oil.

“We came here tonight to show that people are already working in the clean energy economy, including union members like me, who are building hybrid car batteries,” said Shawn Grimes, an IUE-CWA member and a speaker at tonight’s event. “We need to create good manufacturing jobs here in Ohio and across the country and clean energy will help us do that.”

“Whether they are building hybrid car batteries in Ohio, building the parts for windmills in Missouri or building hybrid buses in Minnesota, CWA members are building the clean energy economy now,” said Jim Clark, President of IUE-CWA, the Industrial Division of the Communications Workers of America. “Investing in clean energy will build our economy for the long-term and create the kind of good jobs that support families and communities.”

The Made in America Jobs Tour, organized by the Alliance for Climate Protection and the BlueGreen Alliance, kicked off last week in Cleveland and consists of more than 50 events in 22 states, including St. Louis, Missouri; Detroit, Michigan; Gary, Indiana; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“It’s clear that Ohio’s working families understand the benefits that lie in clean energy,” said Bryan McGannon, Repower Ohio State Director. “Our working families are not only prepared to help transition America to a clean energy economy, but excited to seize the opportunities clean energy and climate solutions provide, and the jobs made in America they create.”

A recent report by the BlueGreen Alliance showed that Ohio stands to gain more than 50,000 manufacturing jobs in wind, solar, geothermal and biomass by instituting a renewable electricity standard. In addition, a report by the Center for American Progress showed that Ohio could gain more than 67,000 jobs from investments in clean energy.

Lee Geisse, a member of the United Steelworkers and a greaser at a plant in Louisville, Ohio, urged the attendees to take action to create clean energy jobs when she said “Problems are just opportunities in hard hats. We can make this clean economy work if we all just put on our hard hats and get busy.”

For more information about the Made in America Jobs Tour, visit Repower America http://www.repoweramerica.org/us/tour or the BlueGreen Alliance at www.bluegreenalliance.org.

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The Made in America Jobs Tour is supported by the BlueGreen Alliance Foundation, a 501 c(3) organization dedicated to educating the public about the job-creating potential of global warming solutions, including the expansion of renewable energy and energy efficiency across the United States.