Labor & Environment
Organized Labor & the Environment
Documents
Securing Our Children's World: Our Union and the Environment
An excellent introduction to labor environmentalism as well as
environmental issues in general. Report by the United Steel Workers'
Environmental Task Force.
Labour and the Environment: A Natural Synergy
Lends an international perspective to labor environmentalism. Joint
publication of the International Labour Organization and the UN Environment
Programme.
More Than Green Jobs: Time for a New Climate Policy for Labor
Sean Sweeney makes a case for labor basing its environmental policy on
science and committing itself to the fight against global warming. Article
from New Labor Forum (used with permission of the author).
Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-carbon World
Landmark study of impact sustainability is having on the world of work.
From the UN's International Labour Organization.
Unions Call for Science-Based Reductions in Greenhouse Gases
Three major US unions come out in support of the science-based targets
put forward by the IPCC.
Trade Union Statement at the UN Convention on Climate Change (Bali, Dec. 2007)
North American Labor Assembly on Climate Crisis: Conference Statement
Adopted at the NALACC (NYC, May 2007) which was sponsored by 10
international unions and attended by over 250 trade unionists from around the
world.
Smarter, Cleaner, Stronger in New York: Secure Jobs, a Clean Environment, and Less Foreign Oil
A special report for the Blue-Green Alliance. How smart energy policy
can boost job growth, save money for consumers, and strengthen national
security.
Union Leader Leo Gerard Looks at Clean Energy and Sees Good Jobs
Profile of the Steelworkers' leader from the Sierra Club Magazine.
Making Homes Environment-friendly Creates Jobs & Helps Save the Earth
A presentation at the Trade Union Assembly on Labor and Environment
(Nairobi, 2006) by the German Trade Union Confederation.
AFSCME Resolution: Global Warming and Green Jobs
AFL-CIO Resolution: Creating and Retaining Sustainable Good Green Jobs
Online Videos
(Also available in transcript form at this website.)
North American Labor Assembly on Climate Crisis
Presentations at the May 2007 conference in New York City.
Organizations
AFL-CIO Center for Green Jobs
Focuses on helping unions and workers create the environmentally
sustainable economy of the future
AFSCMEgreen Environmental Caucus
A grassroots, member-driven project based in Oregon
Apollo Alliance
(National)
Apollo Alliance
(New York State)
Seeks to rejuvenate our country's economy by creating the next
generation of American industrial jobs and treating clean energy as an
economic and security mandate.
Blue Green Alliance
A joint project of the Steel Workers Union and the Sierra Club. Pursues
a joint public policy agenda under the banner of Good Jobs, a Clean
Environment, and a Safer World.
Green Labor Journal
An on-line magazine produced jointly by the AFL-CIO Center for Green
Jobs and the National Labor College.
Labor Environment Action Network
Grassroots unionists committed to action on climate change and
sustainability, based in Australia.
Labor Network for Sustainability
Engages unions, workers, and their allies to support economic, social,
and environmental sustainability.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
An alliance of government employees dedicated to upholding environmental
laws and values. Monitors environmental agencies, informs the government and
the public about environmental issues, and defends public employees who speak
out about the environment.
Sustainlabour
International organization that believes labor unions must take
environmental issues into account and those who seek sustainability must
listen to workers.
Urban Agenda
(Apollo Alliance, NYC)
Seeks to link the labor movement and other social justice movements to
develop and advocate for progressive public policy. It believes NYC must be
maintained on the basis of vitality, environmental sustainability, and social
equity.
Environmental Racism
Documents
Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty: 1987-2007 (5.15MB)
Race, Waste, and Class: New Perspectives on Environmental Justice
Organizations
Environmental Justice Network
Environmental Justice Resource Center
National Black Environmental Justice Network
New York City Environmental Justice Alliance
Women & the Environment
Documents
Women and the Environment
Women As the Voice for the Environment
Women, Health and the Environment
Organizations
Women's Environment and Development Organization
Women in Europe for a Common Future
Computers & the Environment
Documents
An Inefficient Truth
Information and computer technology's carbon footprint.
Green IT Attitude and Actions Among Australian IT Professionals
Greenpeace on E-waste
E-Gad! As "E-waste" Piles Up, So Does Concern About this Growing threat to the Environment (Smithsonian)
High-Tech Trash (National Geographic)
Smuggling Europe's Waste to Poorer Countries (NY Times)
Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia (Basel Action Network/Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition)
Poisoning the Poor — Electronic Waste in Ghana (Greenpeace International)
Links
Computers and the Environment (Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility webpage)
Where Can I Donate or Recycle My Old Computer and Other Electronic Products?
Resources on Computers and the Environment
General Environmental Issues
Documents
Fact Sheets:
Factsheets on specific environmental issues from the UN Environment Programme
Air/Pollution
The Air That We Breath (fact sheet)
Biodiversity/Extinction
Biodiversity and Human Well-being (fact sheet)
Animal Extinction: the Greatest Threat to Mankind
Climate Change
Climate Change (fact sheet)
Draft Summary Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007 (5.66MB)
The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change
The Secret Campaign of Pres. Bush's Administration to Deny Global Warming
Land
Land and Human Well-being (fact sheet)
Sustainability
Interlinkages — Goverance for Sustainability (fact sheet)
Water
Water (fact sheet)
Blue Gold: Interview with Maude Barlow
General
Global Environment Outlook 4
The most comprehensive document on the state of the world's environment available online.
The World Is Not Enough for Humans
Non-labor Environmental Organizations
Friends of the Earth International
Green Belt Movement
Greenpeace International
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
International Institute for Sustainable Development
Natural Resources Defense Council
Real Climate
Sierra Club
United Nations Environment Programme
The websites below deal with a multitude of scientific topics. They are
included because their material on environmental issues is quite good.
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Science
Scientific American
Union of Concerned Scientists
Environmental Glossary
Some of the words and phrases used to describe environmental issues
are unfamiliar. Check out our Environmental Glossary
for help.
Resources on the Environment in the DC 37 Library
The Burning Season (Video)
Movie about Chico Mendes starring Raul Julia, Edward James Olmas, and
Sonia Braga. (See Fight for the Forest, below.)
Cochambamba! Water War in Bolivia,
Oscar Olivera & Tom Lewis (Book)
Account of the struggle to keep water services in this Bolivian
community from being privatized. Olivera is a labor leader as well as a
leader in this struggle.
Energy Alternatives: Opposing Viewpoints, Helen Cothran,
editor (Book)
Introduction to alternative energy in which various points of view are
presented.
Fight for the Forest: Chico Mendes in His Own Words,
Chico Mendes Book)
Mendes was the leader of the Rubber Tappers Union in Brazil who led the
fight to save the rainforest and thus save workers' livelihoods. Mendes was
assassinated by local developers during the struggle.
An Inconvenient Truth,
Al Gore (Available as both book and DVD)
A good popular account of climate change by the Noble Prize winner.
The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor: The Life and Times of Tony Mazzocchi,
Les Leopold (Book)
Mazzocchi was a legendary labor leader and a pioneer in linking the
labor, environmental, and occupational health movements.
The Trade-Off Myth: Fact and Fiction about Jobs and the Environment,
Eban Goodstein (Book)
Effectively dispels false notions that society must choose between jobs
or environment.
The Vulnerable Planet: A Short Economic History of the Environment,
John Bellamy Foster (Book)
Excellent introduction to environmental issues that emphasizes political
economy. The author was an early advocate of linking the labor and
environmental movements.
Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit,
Vandana Shiva (Book)
Essential for understanding the various aspects of a vital resource that
is rapidly becoming scarce.
These materials are available to be checked out at the
DC 37 Library.
Workplace Safety
Local 2627's Workplace Safety Page
Often, as the Steelworkers have noted, the environment outside the
workplace is only an extension of the environment inside.
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