Strong Environmental Laws Used to Promote Fair Paying Jobs, Social Justice
Another proposed energy development on the Mojave Desert prompts criticism from environmentalists concerned about its impact to imperiled wildlife and the landscape. But what’s particularly interesting about this story is that labor groups have finally caught on to the significant leverage that environmental laws can contribute to the cause of fair paying jobs. One labor group in particular has been pushing for huge energy developers to hire with fair contracts. Not suprisingly, energy companies, even those marketing themselves as green, like to keep the costs down whether that means exploiting public landscapes and wildlife – or even labor. Some labor groups are responding by reaching into environmentalists’ toolbox and hitting back.
Battle Brewing Over Giant Desert Solar Farm ~ Green Inc. – New York Times
The labor group, called California Unions for Reliable Energy, sent an attorney and biologist to testify at the hearing. The group has come under fire for inundating developers who decline to sign labor agreements with demands that they conduct scores of costly environmental studies on their solar projects.
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Brian Ertz
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