Since 2022, the media outlet Context has reported on climate change, technology, the economy, and how they intersect. It recently featured the Climate Jobs coalition of labor unions and environmentalists and the progress they are making in several states and cities across the country, where climate action plans are being implemented with the understanding that they must create good-paying union jobs.
New York City is one of hundreds of cities and counties that have adopted climate action plans, which received a huge boost from federal funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law by President Joe Biden in August 2022. In addition to supporting offshore wind projects and registered apprenticeship training programs, Climate Jobs New York is currently leading the Carbon-Free and Healthy Schools Campaign to push the City Council to pass Intro 353, which would require the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on city-owned buildings and other public properties.
"I care about the climate and so does my union,” Local 3, IBEW electrician and instructor Mark Lundquist told Context. “I put solar on my own house and I am glad that my union is also involved in fighting for a sustainable planet."
