New Wisconsin coalition unveils plan to create 30,000 green jobs in economic recovery package

 

A broad new coalition of leaders in government, labor and environmental organizations unveiled a “Blueprint for Wisconsin’s Green Economy.” The Blueprint provides a vision and principles for how the federal economic recovery money should be used, and over $2 billion in examples of immediate, job-creating projects that increase our energy independence, build public transit systems, provide clean water, and rebuild crumbling urban infrastructure. The proposals as a whole would create an estimated 30,000 jobs in Wisconsin.

 

“Every week we hear about a plant closing somewhere in Wisconsin that puts thousands of skilled workers on the street,” said Chuck Geiger of the Blue Green Alliance. “We need to provide these people with good, family supporting, green jobs as well as a pathway to get there. Every displaced worker says to themselves ‘now what?’ We need to answer that question.”

 

“The Blueprint provides an answer by showing how investing economic recovery money in this way can both remedy the immediate economic crisis, and build the basis for a high wage, environmentally sustainable, 21st Century Wisconsin economy,” said Melissa Scanlan, Founder and Senior Counsel, Midwest Environmental Advocates.

 

The coalition identified key project areas that could increase the number of green jobs in Wisconsin:

 

 

“We’re at a critical point where we can jump start our economy with targeted investments that build Wisconsin’s 21st Century green economy. Investing in public transit will not only create thousands of jobs, but will promote smart development and reduced climate change emissions,” according to Mayor Dave Cieslewicz. "The Amalgamated Transit Union -Local 998 eagerly supports the Blueprint because by investing in mass transit we can put people to work on vital infrastructure that connects people to jobs,” said Richard Riley, President, Amalgamated Transit Union - Local 998.

 

“We can put people to work in a very short time frame if we’re able to get additional funding for major clean water and flood management projects,” said Kevin Shafer, Executive Director of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. “Our investments have an immediate impact on the economy and benefit the waterways of this region for decades.” Cheryl Nenn, Milwaukee’s Riverkeeper added, “With new green jobs we can clean our rivers and Great Lakes, protect the drinking water supply, restore wildlife habitat, and improve our quality of life.”

 

“With Wisconsin hemorrhaging family supporting manufacturing jobs over the past decade, it makes sense to invest economic recovery money in a way that can both remedy the immediate economic crisis and start to build the basis for a new high wage economy,” said Robert Kraig, Program Director for Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “The unprecedented infusion of federal resources being proposed in Washington is an opportunity for Wisconsin to start building a 21st Century economy that creates new family supporting jobs and is more ecologically sustainable.”