Just Transition

For us, a just transition means building an economy that  provides family sustaining jobs and consistent tax revenue, while improving the environment, public health, and democracy. With our partners in organized labor we have lead the charge in Tonawanda, NY with the retirement and transition of the NRG Huntly plant, and in South Buffalo with organizing efforts to unionize Tesla Gigafactory 2.

As the devastating impacts of climate change and the decline of the coal industry continue to shape our lives and communities, the transition of our energy economy becomes both increasingly urgent, and economically inevitable. New York State’s Clean Energy Mandate dictates that 50% of electricity consumed will come from renewable energy by 2030. The shifting energy economy in Buffalo is a reflection of national trends, where public and private investments in renewable energy continue to grow.

As our economy transitions and new workplaces emerge, workers still face the same basic set of concerns: a need for wages that can support families, job security, benefits and other basic protections. We see the unionization of Tesla, and of the renewable sector, as a strategy to build a just and equitable renewable energy economy, an economy that provides generational sustaining careers as our energy system transitions, read more here.