Posted by:
Steve Dubb
Labor-environmentalist gathering enters 4th year
Organized by the Blue Green Alliance, an organization founded by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club, the 2011 Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference —to take place February 8-10 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. — is the nation’s leading forum sharing ideas and strategies to build a green economy that creates good paying, green collar jobs. The 2011 Conference will bring together thousands of labor, environmental, business, elected and community leaders. The conference aims to put into practice the ideas and strategies for a new green economy — and creating good green jobs — around the country. This year’s Conference highlights the successful state and local initiatives, emerging and growing green sectors, creating a Green Infrastructure Model through smart transportation and urban development, successful work development programs, model partnerships between government, the private sector and local interests — all while demonstrating the breadth of the coalition working to build a green economy and to create the good jobs that come along with it. Registration for the conference (cost: $175) is available here.
Past conferences have brought together a wide range of speakers: The 2010 Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference brought together 3,000 people to put ideas into action and build a new green economy. Keynote and plenary speakers included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu, Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry and Governors Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania and Bill Ritter of Colorado. The 2008 Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference, which took place in Pittsburgh, was attended by nearly 1,000 union, environmental, business and elected leaders, and the 2009 Conference in Washington, D.C., was attended by nearly 3,000 people and featured U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, then-Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, Senators Amy Klobuchar, Debbie Stabenow and Sherrod Brown, and many other prominent administration and congressional leaders. A listing of breakout sessions is available here.
The Democracy Collaborative, host of Community-Wealth.org, itself will participate on a panel titled “How Equitable Development Supports the New Green Economy.” A description of the panel is available here. Moderated and organized by Carlton Eley from the Office of Policy at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the panel also includes Bob Gough, Secretary of the Intertribal Council on Utility Policy and Miquela Craytor, Executive Director of Sustainable South Bronx.