New York State Apollo Alliance Newsletter, July 2007, Vol. 1, Issue 2
Workforce Development Institute, July 2007
New York State Apollo Alliance Newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 2
http://www.wdiny.org/ApolloNewsletter.html
New York State Apollo Alliance Summit : Good Jobs and Clean Energy
http://www.wdiny.org/apolloalliance.html
On May 23rd and 24th, the New York State Apollo Alliance held its first Summit on Good Jobs and Clean Energy at the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) building in Latham, NY. The Summit brought together representatives of the labor, business, environment, education, and environmental justice groups represented in the coalition, with representatives of NYS and NYC Government to discuss recent initiatives in energy policy reform. There were strategic discussions on the opportunities for labor as the United States begins to redesign its energy generation systems with greater emphasis on renewable energy and energy efficiency. Speakers at the Summit included Tom Congdon, the Governor’s Special Assistant for Energy; James Gallagher, Director of the State Public Service Commission’s Office of Electricity and Environment; Jeffrey Kay, Director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Operations; Peter Smith, President and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority; Jared Snyder, the State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Assistant Commissioner for Air Resources, Climate Change and Energy; and City of Auburn Mayor Timothy Lattimore. A Summit highlight was the luncheon Keynote by Sean Sweeney, PhD, Director of the Global Labor Institute at Cornell University’s School of Industrial Labor Relations. Sweeney, one of the lead organizers of the North American Labor Assembly, titled his talk Climate Crisis: Why a new “New Deal” Approach Makes Sense.
Within the past few weeks both Governor Eliot Spitzer and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have announced major energy efficiency and sustainability goals. Spitzer’s proposal to reduce state electricity use 15 percent by 2015 has been adopted as an official policy goal by the state Public Service Commission. The Mayor’s PlaNYC 2030 also sets ambitious goals, including for reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by heating and cooling city buildings. Advocates for both plans say they will result in investments of hundreds of millions of dollars in new energy efficient construction and renewable power sources over the next decade. Learning more about these two key initiatives was a central part of the agenda at the NYS Apollo Alliance Summit.
The Workforce Development Institute, the Sierra Club and the Environmental Business Association, helped found the NYS Apollo Alliance, one of 11 similar state-level groupings around the country. In its short history, the NYS Apollo Alliance has grown to include representatives of labor, business, environment, education, and environmental justice groups. The Steelworkers and NYSUT are represented on its steering committee, and support for the Alliance is growing as evidenced by the endorsement of Apollo’s 10 Point program by the Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation May 11th at its annual meeting.
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