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The United Steelworkers (USW) today gave a ringing endorsement to Governor Ed Rendell’s Energy Independence Strategy.
“The Governor’s proposed Energy Independence Strategy will do much more than create a cleaner environment and help liberate our people from depending on Mideast oil, said USW International Vice President Fred Redmond, who appeared with the Governor today in the Capital Rotunda.
“It will build a new wave of homegrown jobs in the clean energy industry – decent, good-paying jobs, like the 1,000 jobs that the Gamesa wind energy company is bringing to Pennsylvania.”
The USW has been in the forefront of advocating for the growth of a clean energy economy. In 2004, it formed the Blue Green Alliance, a strategic partnership of the USW and the Sierra Club, and is a founding partner of the Apollo Alliance – broad-based coalitions committed to supporting public policies that create good jobs, a clean environment and a safer world.
“We are especially encouraged by the fact that Pennsylvania is leading the way in the pursuit of energy independence by proposing a plan to reduce energy costs while investing in clean energy and stimulating the economy,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard.
The USW said the Governor’s Energy Independence program will help create good jobs through new, renewable energy sources right here in Pennsylvania.
Governor Rendell has proposed investing $850 million in The Energy Independence Fund that will encourage new investment in key energy sectors including bio-fuels, solar energy, waste coal use, and other emerging energy technologies that will directly create 13,000 new jobs and indirectly fuel the creation of thousands more jobs throughout Pennsylvania.
On June 7, newly organized workers employed at Gamesa in Ebensburg and Fairless Hills, Pa., approved their first labor agreement with 80 percent approval.
Gamesa is the only major wind turbine manufacturer that produces its blades, nacelles and towers in the United States. Gamesa’s investment in creating manufacturing jobs in Pennsylvania was made possible by tax incentives and the adoption of a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) for the state urged by Governor Rendell, Environmental Secretary Kathleen McGinty, Pennsylvania’s State Legislature, the Apollo Alliance, and the USW.
“This agreement is a great example of how we can have good jobs and a clean environment,” Gerard said. “To think that we can only have one or the other is a false choice. We can, and must, have both.”
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BLUE GREEN ALLIANCE
