A Letter to the People from Congressman Ellison

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the fight for a green economy,

I want to thank you all for coming to the Green Jobs Now National Day of Action to Build the New Economy. You’re joining tens of thousands of others around the country right now to say that you’re ready for a green economy.

 I’m sorry I couldn’t be with you all in person, but right now I’m in Washington, DC dealing with the crisis in our economy. I’m trying to make sure that any bill that passes addresses the fact that this isn’t just a crisis on Wall Street, but that this is a real crisis on our streets as well. What this crisis is making clear to anyone who didn’t already know it is that the economy is broken, and what we really need is a new economy—a green economy; one that creates a pathway out of poverty for millions of Americans; one that’s focused on improving the lives of real people and the communities that we live in; one where a growing percentage of the workforce is part of a union.

 It’s that economy, a green economy, that will result in the creation of jobs here at home that can’t be sent overseas.  It means living wages, access to health care and quality education, AND a clean environment in which to live and raise our families.

 Yesterday, on the floor of the House, I was privileged to vote for a package of tax incentives that will help create and preserve hundreds of thousands of green jobs in the areas of energy-efficiency, conservation, and renewables. But that’s not enough. We need to have the training opportunities to create a pathway for people in poverty to take advantage of these jobs. One piece of this means fully funding the Green Jobs Act that passed in December as part of the larger energy package. But this will also require the strong participation of unions, to focus their apprenticeship programs on training for these jobs, to commit to increased organizing focused on green collar jobs, and to recruit people in poverty into their apprenticeship programs, because a union job is going to be a job with a decent wage, health benefits and a safe workplace.

 But a change to a green economy isn’t going to happen by itself. You know that, which is why you’re here today. It’s going to require new partnerships and new coalitions. It’s going to require that we all reach out to people and organizations with whom we probably haven’t worked before. I’m ready for green jobs now, and I want to thank you for all that you’re doing to support green jobs now. I look forward to continuing our shared work to make the green economy a reality for all.

 Sincerely,

 Congressman Keith Ellison