Please invest in Our Daily Planet today, by making a one time or monthly contribution.
We do not charge our readers a subscription fee for our content. We want to continue to grow our readership, particularly among millennials and public servants. Voluntary contributions from readers will help us employ interns and freelance journalists, expand our content, and reach a larger audience.
If you make a contribution of $150 or more, you will become an official “Friend of the Planet” and receive a Friend of the Planet T-shirt or water bottle.
Senator Bernie Sanders visits Paradise, CA. Image: Justin Sullivan
As the San Francisco Chronicle reported, Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s main union is pushing back forcefully against efforts to make the company, which is currently owned by investors, controlled by the public instead — something Sen. Bernie Sanders, state Sen. Scott Wiener and the city of San Francisco have proposed in various forms.
IBEW Local 1245 quickly responded to a political advertisement from Sanders that criticized PG&E for its role in causing deadly wildfires. The union, in return, criticized Sanders’ endorsement of a public takeover, saying it would be prohibitively expensive and misguided.
PG&E currently employs 24,000 workers and IBEW Local 1245 represents about half of them. While it’s far from California’s largest union, it’s one more example of how fractured unions are around the Green New Deal–event if many are starting to come around.
What’s Happening: As the Chronicle also explained,
“Taken together, the efforts demonstrate the kind of resistance that ideas for complete structural overhauls at PG&E will continue to encounter. Despite PG&E’s responsibility for fires that killed dozens of people and burned communities to the ground, utility labor leaders could prove a powerful supporter of keeping the company intact.”
Why This Matters: While union membership has been on the decline, California has seen the growth of union members in 2019. Since climate change will be a major issue for Democratic candidates this election, a story to watch will be if union workers embrace bold climate policy proposals like the Green New Deal. In Texas, the Sunrise Movement is betting big that union members will be sympathetic to progressive candidates and their climate plans. In California, evidence points to this not being the case.
This is all to say that workers aren’t uniformly hearing what role they might play in a clean energy future. Democrats up and down the ballot would be wise to rethink their climate messaging in order to build union support.
By Amy Lupica, ODP Daily Editor Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has resisted committing to the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, one that 130 other nations have already signed on to. For a country plagued by algae bloom-causing bushfires, deforestation, and legions of mice, Morrison’s avoidance of pledging net zero has baffled many and […]
Continue Reading 526 words
Heat waves are now the United States’ top weather-related cause of death. To combat the impacts of extreme heat and rising temperatures brought on by climate change, Joe Biden launched a government-wide strategy on Monday: six federal agencies will collaborate to protect vulnerable populations, including outdoor workers, children, and the elderly. The Labor Department’s […]
Continue Reading 137 words
By Amy Lupica, ODP Daily Editor The UN General Assembly has kicked into full gear, and President Biden took center stage on Tuesday to pledge that the US will double the amount of money it spends to help poorer nations fight climate change. Still, critics say that the pledge, now totaling $11.4 billion a year […]
Continue Reading 472 wordsSubscribe to the email that top lawmakers, renowned scientists, and thousands of concerned citizens turn to each morning for the latest environmental news and analysis.
