Labor, Environmental Activists to Protest World Bank’s CAFTA Tribunal
Pacific Rim Cayman LLC, the mining company determined to extract gold along the banks of El Salvador’s Lempa River, is seeking to use the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) to force the Salvadoran government to allow it to have its environmentally disastrous, gold-digging way. Since 2009, four activists opposed to Pacific Rim’s mining plans have been killed.
Tomorrow, the AFL-CIO will join the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and activists from a range of labor and environmental groups to converge on the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., for a noon protest in opposition to a CAFTA case being brought against the Salvadoran government by Pacific Rim. The AFL-CIO has long called for ending CAFTA, whose absence of labor protections leads to the abuse of Central American workers.
As part of the action, participants will attempt to deliver an open letter to World Bank officials, calling on the bank and presiding officials to dimiss Pacific Rim’s CAFTA complaint, which seeks $77 million from the Salvadoran government for calling a halt to the company’s potentially devastating gold mining operation. Read the rest of this entry »
Cry Wolf Project Debunks Corporate, Conservative Claims
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How many times have we heard from big corporations and their political allies—usually well-financed by corporate campaign contributions—that the latest workplace safety, environmental or consumer protection regulation will kill jobs, ruin the economy and lead to the end of civilization as we know it?
I’ve lost track—but the new Cry Wolf Project hasn’t.
The Cry Wolf Project is a network of advocates, researchers and scholars dedicated to demonstrating that, in fact, conservatives and business groups are only “crying wolf” to delay, prevent and weaken important and commonsense regulations that save lives, clean our environment and make our families more secure.
The group’s just-launched website includes:
- A Quote Bank of nearly 800 “cry wolf” quotes opposing popular and effective laws and regulations over the past century.
- Evidence including dozens of articles, studies showing how health, safety, environmental and other important laws have actually saved lives, motivated innovation and helped grow the economy.
- Backgrounders and briefs on a variety of issues, from auto emissions to workplace safety.
- Cry Wolf Blog with the latest commentary showing the latest efforts to block important laws and regulations.
Click here to check it out and you also can like Cry Wolf on Facebook and follow on Twitter (@CryWolfProject).
Trumka: Young Activists Moving Nation to ‘Jobs, Clean Green Future’
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Because of the activism by young people like the 10,000 environmental Power Shift activists who traveled to Washington, D.C., to the tell Congress it’s time to force the corporate polluters to pay up and clean up, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says:
We’re moving past the same-old tired debates and toward jobs and a clean, green future.
The activists were in the nation’s capital for a four–day clean energy conference and mobilization training, organized by the Energy Action Coalition. They capped off their conference this morning with rally in Lafayette Park with the White House on one side and the national headquarters of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—the voice for some the nation’s biggest corporate polluters—on the other. Said Sherri Masterson from Miami (Ohio) University:
We want President Obama to do more to hold these big corporations, like BP, accountable for screwing up the environment and make them pay to clean up their pollution.
Register Now for the 2011 Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference
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Register now for the 2011 Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference, Feb. 8–10 in Washington, D.C. With unemployment above 9.0 percent for more than 20 months, thousands of union, environmental, business, community and elected leaders will discuss how to create millions of good green jobs across the United States. The conference is the leading forum for sharing ideas and strategies to grow a green economy that creates good jobs, addresses global warming and other environmental problems and preserves America’s economic and environmental security.
Participants at the 2011 conference will focus on how best to put ideas and strategies into practice to build a sustainable economy that creates good jobs across the United States. The conference will highlight state and local initiatives as well as emerging and growing green sectors. Participants will hear about efforts to create a Green Infrastructure Model through smart transportation and urban development, successful work development programs and model partnerships between government, the private sector and local interests.
Click here to register for the conference, here for the conference agenda and here for the workshop schedule.
A Little ‘Buy American’ Goes a Long Way
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Gee what a concept: When U.S. taxpayer money is spent on economic stimulus programs that channel the funds into U.S. jobs, America’s communities, workers and, yes, the nation benefit.
Case in point: a stimulus-funded bridge project in Hubbard County, Minn., whose construction is based on the “Buy America” provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. From the Alliance for American Manufacturing:
According to a Hubbard County engineer who is overseeing the project, domestically sourced inputs, including cement, plywood, and 55,000 pounds of reinforced steel, are being used because of the Buy America requirement.
Instead of using foreign inputs, which are less stimulative for job creation, domestic steel is being used to create 30-foot I-beams to support the bridge deck. Steel rebar is also used in the project. The local engineer also reports that the Buy America requirements are not burdensome and are not an impediment to the project. The project came in under budget with $600,000 allotted, but only $430,000 needed to complete the project. The bridge construction is moving quickly and is expected to be completed shortly.
Trumka Challenges G-20 Leaders to Respect Workers, Environment
Last night in Pittsburgh, at an event featuring former Vice President Al Gore and a broad coalition of environmental and union leaders, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka challenged the global heads of state attending the G-20 conference to build a new economic order that protects the dignity of workers and the planet.
The world cannot afford to continue with a globalization that works only for the very richest and leaves workers and the communities they live in behind, Trumka said. While the G-20 leaders meet, unions are issuing a declaration that calls for global action for good jobs:
Together, the labor movement and the environmental movement are a fighting force for change. This is our time—time to let the powers gathered here this week know exactly what we want, and exactly what we won’t stand for. We want a clean energy economy that creates good jobs, and we want a safe and healthy planet.
New Fuel Standards Protect Environment and Workers
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney praised today’s agreement on nationwide fuel economy standards as “a major step forward and a victory for America’s workers, consumers and the environment.”
The agreement, announced today by President Obama, requires vehicle carbon dioxide emissions be reduced by about one-third. Under the changes, the overall fleet average would have to be 35.5 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2016, with passenger cars reaching 39 mpg and light trucks hitting 30 mpg. Manufacturers also would be required to hit individual mileage targets.
Colorado Springs IBEW Hall Goes Green
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The members of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 113 in Colorado Springs, Colo., are living the union movement’s commitment to creating good green jobs and protecting our environment.
In late March, union members completed installing rooftop solar panels at the union hall. The all-union project will provide about 80 percent of the local’s electrical needs for the next 25 years.
The project will help save the environment and put money back into the union’s coffer. With an average of 330 sunny days a year in Colorado Springs, Local 113 expects to recoup the photo voltaic system’s $164,000 cost in short order. The solar energy system, which consists of 144 union-made panels, is a direct use system—meaning power is used as it is generated. And whatever surplus energy is generated can be sold back to the local utility company.
Report: China’s Lax Environmental Laws Cost Jobs and Lives
The long list of China’s unfair trade advantages and human rights violations already includes currency manipulation, failure to enforce workers’ rights and a general disrespect for human rights. Now, add global pollution to the list. A new report reveals that China is among the world’s leading polluters and putting the brakes on global warming can not be achieved unless the administration and Congress hold China accountable for its reckless environmental practices.
The report, An Assessment of Environmental Regulation of the Steel Industry in China, was released today by the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), a nonpartisan, nonprofit partnership of several leading U.S. manufacturers and the United Steelworkers (USW). The report focuses on China’s rapidly growing steel industry and documents China’s ineffective enforcement of weak pollution-control standards, its failure to use adequate pollution-prevention measures, and the resulting high levels of pollution.
