Our Children's World(1990)

"OUR CHILDREN'S WORLD" is the original to what became "SECURING OUR CHILDREN'S WORLD," which you can view here.

In the old days, we thought that smoke meant jobs. That pollution was a byproduct of prosperity. And that if the air smelled funny, and the mill killed all the fish in the river, such was the price of progress. Besides, you could always get away on the weekend to a place where the air was pure, the lake was clean and the fishing was good.

Today we know better. "Smoke" has become "air pollution," with a host of noxious ingredients like sulfur dioxide, which corrodes our lungs, and benzene, which menaces our children with leukemia. Millions of tons of toxic chemicals get dumped into our water every day, from heavy metals to organic solvents. They threaten not only fish, but every person downstream.

Decades ago, nobody worried much about hazardous waste. Today we are spending billions of dollars in what can only be a partial clean-up of thousands of sites that threaten public health. Entire communities, such as Times Beach in Missouri, have been abandoned because of contamination by hazardous waste.

Pollution issues used to be local. The smoke from a factory affected the town, but not the world beyond. No longer. Acid rain, generated by pollutants from power plants, factories and automobiles, threatens forests and lakes half way across the continent and may contribute to thousands of deaths every year. Nor do the problems stop at national borders. Some are truly global. Chlorofluorocarbons like Freon are slowly destroying the protective layer of ozone in the Earth's upper atmosphere. The ozone layer shields us from harmful ultraviolet radiation; if it is lost, the result will be serious damage to human and animal life, and to crops.

The burning of fossil fuels like petroleum and coal generates billions of tons of carbon dioxide every year. This gas and others trap heat in the atmosphere. The resulting global warming could melt the ice caps, flood our coastal cities and turn huge agricultural areas into deserts. The problem is made worse by the widespread destruction of our forests, which help absorb excess carbon dioxide.

The loss of forests and other habitats threatens many species of plants and animals with extinction. Even our oceans are at risk from toxic runoff, oil spills and waste dumping at sea.

Added together, these problems may threaten the ultimate capability of our resources to sustain civilization.

Can the destruction of our environment be stopped? If so, who will pay the price? Some would have us believe that these problems are not as serious as we think, or that they can be left for the next generation to solve. Others maintain that pollution is still the price of progress, and that attempting to end it would cause massive economic dislocation, putting millions out of work.

The argument can get personal. Some companies, faced with new regulations, have threatened to shut down, pitting workers against environmentalists. Additional controls would be just too expensive, these companies say, and workers who want to save their jobs had better line up behind their employers.

Are they right? Do we really have to choose between our jobs and the environment? Is our economy threatened by efforts to stop environmental damage? Or is a damaged environment the real threat to our economic well-being? Can we afford to wait? What kind of world do we want to leave our children?

The USW Environmental Task Force was chartered to examine these questions. We met four times. Task force members talked to union staff and local union members about environmental issues. We heard from prominent environmentalists. We examined previous USW statements and policies. Particularly helpful was the 1989 Canadian Policy Conference Paper on the Environment.

We believe the greatest threat to our children's future may lie in the destruction of their environment. For that reason alone, environment must be an issue for our union. In addition, we cannot protect Steelworker jobs by ignoring environmental problems. This report summarizes our findings and recommendations, beginning with a basic review of the threat to our environment.

CONTENTS - Chose a topic below (pdf format)

• Air Pollution
• Water Pollution
• Toxic Chemicals
• Acid Precipitation
• Global Warming
• Deforestation
• Ozone Depletion
• The Oceans
• Population
• A Union Issue
• Protecting Our Children's World
• Protecting Our Jobs
• Protecting the Environment and Other Issues
• The USW Principles for Progressive Legislation 
• Taking Action 
• Conclusion

What We Face

Over the last century, the relationship between human beings and the planet that sustains us has undergone a profound change. When the century began, our population and our technology did not have the power to alter our environment irreversibly. Now they do. Yet that power seems out of control, creating enormous conflicts between human activities and the natural world. Some of the problems are local and familiar; others are global, and seem difficult to comprehend. All of them are critical to our survival.

If you have questions, comments, or would like more information, please contact the Health, Safety, & Environment Departmnet at the USW by emailing safety@usw.org.