The United States is in the middle of a transition to a new, cleaner economy, but an energy transition that is fair for workers and communities will not happen organically. Ensuring that workers and communities are not being left behind must be a central focus of this transition. We can do that by facilitating a fair and equitable transition into our efforts to reduce emissions. There’s no silver bullet here. We need a range of policies to support these workers and communities, to invest in the economic development and diversification of these regions, and to create good-paying, union jobs.
These transition policies have to go hand in hand with efforts to grow and retain quality jobs across the economy, including in the clean energy sectors. This can be done by continuing to make robust investments in our infrastructure, clean tech manufacturing, strong job quality standards, growing worker rights and power, and other policies that promote the creation of good, union jobs.
State and federal policies must complement local efforts. Linking transition supports and funding to community-driven economic development efforts will ensure that projects actually meet the needs of the community. Prioritizing public input and community participation is key in determining how economic development and restoration projects are chosen and implemented. With community buy-in, these investments can create long-term, permanent jobs and diversify the economies of communities.
The National Economic Transition platform a plan crafted by local, Tribal, and labor leaders, as well as national organizations like the BlueGreen Alliance, offers a blueprint on how to build resilient and equitable economies in the places hardest hit by the evolution of our national energy systems.
We need targeted responses that minimize the pain for workers and communities that have relied economically on technologies with dwindling market demand and that create new economic opportunities and pathways to good-paying, union jobs.
Investing in reclamation and environmental remediation is a huge opportunity to create good union jobs and revitalize communities struggling with energy transition.
Prioritizing and targeting federal resources to workers and communities in places impacted by the shift to a new, cleaner economy needs to be a deliberate choice.
64 Million or Nearly 1 in 5 People in the U.S. Nearly one in five people in the United States—roughly 64 million—live a community that meets the Inflation Reduction Act’s definition of a “coal closure” or “fossil fuel” energy community. (Source)
