ICYMI: Wisconsin Workers Unite to Preserve Their Jobs and Wisconsin’s Clean Energy Economy

Milwaukee, WI – This week, the Republican National Convention is underway, full of plans to expand drilling but lacking any plans to address climate change.  Climate Power and IBEW hosted events in Madison and Eau Claire lifting up the voices of union leaders and elected officials who spoke directly to the benefits the clean energy economy is bringing to the state of Wisconsin and the country. 

Since Democrats and President Biden passed the clean energy plan Republicans have voted 42 times to repeal the landmark climate and clean energy plan and other provisions of the law. If Trump wins, 300,000+ jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars in private sector clean energy investments will be in jeopardy, including $940 million in local investments and close to 2,000 new clean energy jobs in Wisconsin. 

“No matter their political affiliation, the vast majority of Wisconsinites care about climate action,” said Mayor of Madison Satya Rhodes-Conway. “They know the benefits of climate action and support policies that create new good-paying jobs and expand job training in clean energy. Now more than ever, we have to accelerate our fight against climate change and invest in clean energy and good-paying jobs in Wisconsin. MAGA Republicans winning this upcoming election would increase pollution, raise costs for families, and risk the over 310,000 jobs created by President Biden’s clean energy plan.” 

“We are in the middle of a manufacturing boom driven by infrastructure and clean energy projects, thanks in large part to our labor movement wins with the Biden Administration,” said Nick Webber, IBEW Local 953 Director Of Membership Development.  “As union workers, we’re ensuring that the clean energy transition benefits everyone. But the labor and clean energy progress this country has made over the past four years will be at risk under another Trump presidency. Republicans are trying to take credit for job creation and economic growth, but their actions of eroding labor protections and attempting to gut the clean energy progress tell a different story.”

“Clean energy is the way forward for our country,” said Heather Hargreaves, Deputy Executive Director of Campaigns at Climate Power. “President Biden has taken more environmental actions than any president in history while holding Big Oil accountable. As much of the nation struggles under a massive heat wave that threatens our health and puts a strain on our wallets, it’s clear that we need to continue down the path of a clean energy future—not reverse course and turn the tide on the progress we’ve made in the last three and a half years. Supporting clean energy progress means supporting good-paying union jobs, jobs that will be in jeopardy if Trump gets elected to a second term.”