Public Employee Press

Planting the seeds for a greener world
Public employees are on the front line

Nearly 200 members commemorated Earth Day April 30 by attending a screening of Al Gore’s documentary on global warming at the union.
After the Academy Award-winning “An Inconvenient Truth,” a panel discussed threats to the environment and the role labor activists could play in combating pollution.

The former vice president’s powerful film provides a hard-hitting introduction to global warming, and it concludes with a rallying cry for environmental activism, which panelists reinforced. DC 37 Program Director Frances M. Curtis and Local 420’s Christopher A. Watson coordinated the event. All who attended got a free DVD of “An Inconvenient Truth” and an environmental information packet, which included literature from the Dept. of Environmental Protection. The union purchased the DVDs thanks to donations from several locals.

The documentary shows how economic development causes global warming. Natural carbon dioxide and other gases warm the earth’s surface by trapping heat within the atmosphere. However, burning fossil fuels (coal, gas and oil) and clearing forests increases the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, raising temperatures worldwide and melting polar ice. The worldwide warming threatens to devastate food supplies and cause coastal flooding.

Effects already evident include more severe storms and devastating droughts. In recent decades, category 4 and 5 hurricanes have nearly doubled, as has the melting of glaciers in Greenland, and nearly 300 species of plants and animals have moved closer to the poles in search of cooler habitat. “We are witnessing a collision between our civilization and the earth,” Gore says in the documentary.

“Our union will be in the forefront on environmental concerns to protect our members’ quality of life,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, “but we need leadership from Washington, not a president who ignores the problems we face.”

Out of a concern that excessive regulation could hinder job creation, many unions have historically opposed environmentally friendly public policy. But that is changing, and panelists agreed with Gore’s point that environmentalism promotes innovative economic practices that can expand employment.

Praise for Bloomberg plan
Panelist Kate Pfordresher, Urban Agenda’s policy ­director, spoke about the New York City Apollo Alliance, a project to build a community and labor coalition to fight for renewable energy. She generally praised Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s long-term proposal to protect the city’s environment (see accompanying article) and said the plan could provide opportunities for unionized workers.

James Tucciarelli, president of Sewage Treatment Workers Local 1320, played a key role in organizing the event. He explained how the city has improved its environmental practices by treating all sewage now.

Local 375’s David Grant, who chairs the environmental group of the city chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, warned of the danger of the Indian Point nuclear power plant north of the city. Lee Clarke, ­director of the DC37 Safety and Health Dept., said activists should promote environmentalism by holding politicians accountable and urging schools to teach about environmental issues.

Professor Lee Paddock, director of the environmental law program at Pace University School of Law, said that unions like DC 37’s parent, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, play an important role in the fight for a safe environment. He pointed out that public employees are on the front line in carrying out policies to protect the environment.

“I understand a lot more about global warming now,” said Joanne Spann, a Local 420 member. DC 37 retiree Maia Yegboah said, “If we don’t act, we are in a lot of trouble.”

— Gregory N. Heires