Green Labor Journal - Working for a Substainable Future

Blue Green Alliance Merges with Apollo Alliance

Joing forces for good, clean energy jobs for America's 21st century economy

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Washington, D.C. - May 26, 2011.  Right now, 24 million Americans remain out of work or are unable to find full-time work. At the same time, the U.S. faces an unstable energy supply and the threat to our economy of climate change. But inaction at the state and federal level on these issues has become the norm.

Nearly three years after the bottom fell out of our economy, we are still facing a jobs crisis of historic proportions. We can't afford to sit on the sidelines while the U.S. misses the boat on the industries of the 21st century - the biggest job-creating opportunity in a generation. That is why the BlueGreen Alliance and the Apollo Alliance are joining together today - to build a stronger movement to create good jobs and produce clean energy in the 21st century economy.

So starting right now, we speak with one voice. We will merge to become the BlueGreen Alliance, which will be home to the Apollo Alliance project. Together, the BlueGreen Alliance and the Apollo Alliance project will engage with labor, environmental, business and community leaders across the country to advance a bold vision of how to transform our energy future and, at the same time, create good jobs and rebuild our economy.

The BlueGreen Alliance is a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations working to expand the number and quality of jobs in the green economy. Launched in 2006 by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club, the BlueGreen Alliance now unites 10 U.S. labor unions and four of America's most influential environmental organizations - and their 14 million members and supporters - in pursuit of good jobs, a clean environment and a 21st century economy.

The Apollo Alliance is a national coalition of environmental, labor, business and community leaders committed to building a clean energy, good jobs economy. Launched in 2003, Apollo's diverse coalition has offered a bold vision to catalyze a clean energy economy to spur job growth by harkening back to President Kennedy's visionary call to restore America's technological leadership by landing the first man on the moon within the decade of the 1960's.

What does this mean for our work ahead?
The newly invigorated organization will have a keen focus on job creation. Earlier this year, the BlueGreen Alliance launched Jobs21! - a nine-state grassroots campaign calling for a national jobs plan to put America back to work, building the industries of the 21st century here in the United States. The initiative calls for investing in renewable energy, energy efficiency, transportation infrastructure and fuel-efficient vehicles, a smarter electrical grid, broadband internet, recycling and green chemistry - industries that will create new jobs and markets in manufacturing, construction, education and many other sectors.

This initiative will be strengthened through coordination with the Apollo Alliance's strong network of state and local affiliates - now dubbed BlueGreen Apollo Alliances - and by Apollo's recently-launched Clean Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan (TMAP) project that calls for federal investment in clean transportation that will create 3.7 million direct and indirect jobs over six years and will save Americans up to $5,000 per family each year in commuting costs.

The new BlueGreen Alliance will continue its Jobs21! initiative by going door to door and community to community in nine states calling for a national jobs plan for the 21st century.

We look forward to working with you. Together, we will make this the 21st century American economy a reality.

Sincerely,

Leo W. Gerard, International President,United Steelworkers & Co-Chair, BlueGreen Alliance
Phil Angelides, Chairman, Apollo Alliance
Carl Pope, Chairman, Sierra Club & Co-Chair of the BlueGreen Alliance
David Foster, Executive Director, BlueGreen Alliance

The BlueGreen Alliance is a national, strategic partnership between labor unions and environmental organizations dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy. Launched in 2006 by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club, this unique labor-environmental collaboration has grown to include the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), National Wildlife Federation (NWF), Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), Sheet Metal Workers' International Association, United Auto Workers and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). The Blue Green Alliance unites more than 14 million members and supporters in pursuit of good jobs, a clean environment and a green economy.