Governor Strickland, Environmental and Labor Leaders Call for Green Jobs and Clean Energy
Wearing green hardhats, Gov. Ted Strickland and Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy joined labor, environmental and community leaders in September to raise a wind turbine on the front lawn of the Statehouse in Columbus in an event dubbed Uniting, Relighting and Employing Ohio. The raising of the turbine, which was donated by Ohio's own wind and solar company Dovetail Solar and Wind, came after a report was released by the Center for American Progress, authored by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, stating that more than 80,000 Ohio jobs can be created with an investment in a green economy.
The raising was symbolic and exemplified the unified front that labor, environmental and community leaders have to foster green job creation, through investments in clean energy, job training and fair trade. Strickland, Ohio AFL-CIO President Dave Caldwell and Greenpeace Executive Director, John Passacantando, among others, emphasized the need for Ohioans to put aside differences and unify around common sense solutions to the energy and global warming crisis and rising unemployment. There are solutions that Ohioans can all agree on-clean and renewable energy jobs, green job training and fair trade policies that honor worker rights and reflect the true environmental costs of expanding carbon emissions abroad.
This event was part of The Green Jobs for America campaign which is working to educate the public about the economic potential of global warming solutions. Green Jobs for America is calling for better jobs and better energy future for our children. For more information visit www.greenjobsforamerica.org.