KFTC Notes- Sarah Hewett-Ball

Shaping a Just Transition

Lisa Abott, moderator:

Goal today is to share perspectives about What is a just transition and how can our energy transition contribute to a just transition for workers and communities? What is needed here in KY to grow this idea into tangible change?

Take a few moments to highlight how “just transition” shows up in the draft Empower KY plan. There is a section in the plan about ideas and proposals that we recommend for a just transition, as well as specific ideas and recommendations that are woven throughout all segments.

Question for the group discussion: What are some of the people and communities we each think aboutas we join this conversation about what just transition means?

Harlan Co. resident: I would like to see this transition happen not only for the coal workers, but everyone in the community who is effected by coal economy- a just transition for all workers. Especially for women who traditionally didn’t go into the mines. Bringing gender equity into the conversation.

Covington res: This transition talks about people in poor communities. I taught in an alternative program in a building 3 times condemned. This whole thing deals with poor people and their inability to have access to and afford facilities.

Building upon these ideas translates to building a just economy.

Joe Brennan: These situations are taking place in the same places where there are high health problems. Our governor is rolling back Medicaid expansion and this also directly effects people laid off from mines. A stronger safety net for all people can support a just transition for people who are affected by layoffs and other structural changes in our economy.

Panelists:

Mick Power, US CAM/ SEIU:

From Perth, W. Australia- mining state, left for Melbourne and joined the labor party. Learned what it means when you don’t support families and quality jobs.

2009 was a year of severe drought. Experienced climate change directly in form of heat waves, fires, extreme heat.

Worked for several organizations in the environment movement. Wanted to close coal. Often used the words“just transition,” but too often without a strong strategy to back it up.

Worked with farmers from a heavily coal producing state who organized to stop fracking on their lands.

If we were really serious about a just transition, we had to know what that means.

Got a fellowship to study at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

Reached out to Blue Green alliance- suggested researching in Pennsylvania, what would a just transition look like here?

Everyone says there will be more jobs with green energy- but will they be equally created everywhere? Focused on Penn. Looked at several possible future scenarios to see how those communities could be affected by a transition to cleaner energy sources.

Key outcomes of research:

*In all scenarios, coal will continue to decline. Even if we do nothing at all in terms of policy change.

*The transition to clean energy WILL lead to a lot more jobs being created. (see slides for comparable action to results). More jobs are created in ALL scenarios than lost. The scenarios that focused most on climate change and green energy created the most jobs.

*We’re not necessarily getting the same “quality” of jobs created. Construction and Manufacturing will be the vast majority of new jobs created. Professional, scientific & technical and administrative jobs will also grow. The declining sectors are mining and utilities as we shift to more decentralized energy.

*We CAN get the same quality of jobs, if we take action now. It’s really important for states, cities and communities to be proactive to ensure that new jobs created in the clean energy economy are “ongoing, family sustaining jobs.”If we get serious as a state body and invest. Policies are also needed to make sure it is a smooth transition, since timing (when jobs will be lost and when new jobs are projected to be created) and geography (where jobs will be lost and created) are not necessarily aligned. See the BlueGreen Alliance report for suggestions. Found on web:

Question: The scenario this is reflecting, does this include fracking? Answer: a lot of it comes from gas- building gas fired power plants, but also building renewable energy

Question: Do the jobs created only boom initially, or decline over time? Answer: These jobs are reflected in first 5-7 years,

Question: Are these jobs union supported? Answer: The jobs created are less likely to be unionized. Construction/Manufacturing/Scientific/Administration are not usually unionized. (Project labor agreements)

Question: What was the reception of your plan and did you present it to politicians? Answer: Released at conference and shared with people working with Sierra Club and Blue Green Alliance who are continuing to work on these issues.

Question: Conversations with labor unions of steelworkers? Answer: Spent most of my time listening. They have their own transition story. Their priority is staying employed.

Comment: E. KY Resident- What do we mean by a quality job? We need to be careful saying that new jobs may not high quality compared with mining jobs. We tend to forget the downside of being a coal miner. Historically, our people have been in often well paying jobs, but ones that are harmful to their quality of life. A: I think that quality of jobs is THE sticking point in shaping a just transition. Addressing this notion of needing quality jobs- there is a proposition of a federal program that would guarantee workers the same level of wages/benefits as their previous job. It would cost 5% of the total revenue that we gain if a carbon tax is proposed.

Eric Dixon, App Citizen Law Center:

Whitesburg, KY/ Letcher Co- legacy cost of coal, mine safety cases, environmental cases around mining, policy and community engagement

From E. Tennessee, Highlander Center brought him to E. KY- App. Transition focus

Reclaim Act: is an idea that people living in abandoned mine communities, etc- White House proposed 2015 (Power Plus Plan) Congressman H. Rogers introduces Reclaim Act- needs to lead with just transition

The way that I look at the scenario is a transition is inevitable- in that exists an opportunity to create a just trans that supports EVERYONE. We are being handed a chance to do something amazing and this isn’t only in Appalachia. We have to consider that this clean energy economy won’t be a just economy unless we fight for it to be so! We must simultaneously fight for a JUST transition for communities impacted by fossil fuels.

Transition to me is creating solutions that don’t create problems for other people. Fracking, mining, burning more coal, missing brown/black communities-

*In local economies ravaged by the decline of coal: just transition is an exciting discussion that can bring together people who don’t necessarily agree on other issues.

*Just transition is intersectional- not just economic. Addressing historic social oppressions. It is crucial that we model those values in our actions. We could do more to be inclusive even in our own events.

* Just transition needs to be inclusive of environmental justice communities whose health continues to be impacted because we are not rolling out a clean energy economy equally throughout communities. KY continues to burn fossil fuels and meet emissions reductions- we have to address equal distribution.

Work in KY around the Reclaim Act-

Appalachia’s Bright Future was a conference in 2013 in eastern KY. At that event, people directly impacted by fossil fuel economy laid out their visions: improve quality of life; foster inclusion/participatory solutions/collaboration; generate good, meaningful jobs; promote innovation and self-reliance; generate broadly held local wealth; consider effects on future generations. Those principles have informed an emerging organizing strategy to win significant federal reinvestment in our communities.

Organizing strategy; Proposed using federal money to put people to work reclaiming abandoned coal mines, etc- placing long-term economic projects on these sites. It’s an immediate boost and a long-term investment. The idea came from local communities. It was picked up and advanced by the Obama Administration. To get Congressional support, we needed to demonstrate that the idea had local support. So we mobilized 28 local governments (city, county) in Central Appalachia to act and pass resolutions.That in turn caused Congressman Hal Rogers to introduce legislation, the RECLAIM Act. We continue to work for its passage.

Question: Is there an organization directly organizing coal miners? A: Some retired miners are involved in organizations like KFTC and other grassroots groups who are part of the Alliance for Appalachia. But as for a worker-led organization, no.

Comment: In our work (in Los Angeles) we learned that workforce development analysismust be done. Our responsibility is to figure out what are the basic skills of our own communities. Unless there is a really clear path from where I am to a new industry, the transition isn’t real. We have to demonstrate through a workforce analysis to convince people there will be jobs after a transition.

Question: What are efforts around the change in ownership of land, etc? Answer: There is an effort to renew the original land ownership study of Appalachia and investigate who owns Appalachia.

Question: Is there anything feasible in the Penn model for taking the primary place that coal has held? Answer: There isn’t any one thing. E. KY does have natural gas, although the formations are different than in Pennsylvania. So it’s important that we are intentional about this being a transition to a clean energy economy.

Question: How do we prepare young people to be productive in this new economy? Answer: People feel forced to leave E. KY for lack of opportunity. Stay Together Appalachian Youth is an important network working to empower young people to envision what they would like to see in their communities.

Michael Leon Guerrero- Climate Justice Alliance/ Labor Network for Sustainability:

Orginially from Guam, Micronesia- climate change is fundamentally important to what I do.

Has worked for 30 years as an organizer with Center for 3rd world Organizing/ Southwest Organizing Project/ Grassroots Global Justice Alliance

This conversation is the bridge between communities and the labor movement

The Labor Network for Sustainability just published a report on the history of “just transition” (See document: “Just Transition- Just What is It?”, found on web:

Hard copy available

A key current example of how these issues play out:

  • The nature of nature is changing with climate change.
  • A recent letter from AFL-CIO leader Richard Trumpkajust announced support forDakota Access pipeline. AFL-CIO has an “all of the above” approach in creating jobs. They aren’t prioritizing green/clean/etc. The AFL is under pressure from some member unions, especially Building Trades, to support the build out of natural gas pipelines and infrastructure. Other trade unions are standing with the Sioux and other native people in their fight to protect treaty lands and water. This moment demonstrates the importance of education within and across our movement, and the need to develop real alternatives.
  • It’s important to unerstand that many workers and unions consider a “just transition” an invitation to a fancy funeral. It can’t just be about training. Training doesn’t create jobs, jobs create training. Workers get trained for green jobs, but the jobs aren’t there. The jobs have to be concrete.
  • Transition must be strategic. Replacing aging infrastructure. Energy efficiency. (reconstruction). Rebuilding America’s housing structures to be energy efficient. Making serious investmentstowards those goals would all but end many of these conversations.
  • Where does the money come from for all of this? We need government to have a role. (GI Bill: Job training for soldiers returning from service as example.)
  • Creating political will and doing organizing work to achieve this. We need to build from under the ground up. (soil, water)
  • Climate Jobs Campaign- driven by unions. Looked at the transition as not just energy, but also food supply, transportation, etc. It has to be comprehensive. A transition to renewable energy alone is not going to create the jobs we need. We must consider agriculture and other sectors, including ways to drive down carbon levels in the atmosphere with better agricultural practices. (Examples of counties providing support to farmers for healthy soil, and employing formerly incarcerated people to do energy efficiency work.)
  • The Just Transition Alliance- workers inside the plants working with environmental communities outside to support both worker and community demands.

Discussion:

Question: Wendy Bredhold (Evansville, IN) How can grants be used to help workers transition? Is there a successful model of an economic transition? Answer: Tobacco example. Action at state level, then federal. Legislation set aside money to address transition. Rural communities received an influx of resources to transition away from tobacco.

Question: Daniel Holder – In my experience most people still aren’t aware or accepting how big the shift in our energy economy is going to be. What are the first things that happen when a community realizes the writing is on the wall?Answer: A lot of people aren’t telling the truth. Elected officials aren’t talking about what’s really going on. That’s a key reason why we have to organize. We need to use language that is hopeful to help people recognize there is viable transition opportunities. There is a huge lag time between problems arising and communities/officials recognizing those problems. We need public conversations. It takes organizing to make it possible to even publicly speak about truths.

Question: Jillian (Berea); people of color are disproportionately effected. How do we bring about equity? How do you stimulate trust in this process? Answer: If you don’t have the right people at the table from the start, this process is already broken. People of color need to be represented and need to know that their interests are at the center. Talk to people about health vs. climate change so people can directly connect to the problems. We need to be organizing the people who are most affected. What have people been experiencing? We need to start from the point of organizing our people because it will take time to build political will. The solutions are with the people who are most impacted by these problems.

We need policies that put real money into communities disproportionately affected by pollution.