The Climate Jobs Institute is guiding the nation’s transition to a strong, equitable, and resilient clean energy economy by pursuing three aims: to tackle the climate crisis; to create high-quality jobs; and to build a diverse, inclusive workforce.
Public Impact
Opinion: Labor taking lead on green economy
An initiative of the ILR Worker Institute at Cornell, in partnership with Climate Jobs National Resource Center, “Labor Leading on Climate,” proves that when organized labor leads on an issue like climate change, the outcome is a thriving economy.
LLC facilitates “Carbon Free & Healthy Schools” training for union members in NYC
Zach Cunningham, Associate for the Worker Institute, and Tory Kaso, Campaign Director for Climate Jobs NY, helped NYC union members learn more about the Carbon Free & Healthy Schools campaign
Cornell extension faculty member awarded 2022 Public Voices on the Climate Crisis Fellowship
Anita Raman, LLC's Research and Policy Development Associate, is one of twenty national leaders selected to be a 2022 Public Voices Fellow on the Climate Crisis. This program is administered by the Yale Program on Climate Communication and the OpEd Project national Public Voices initiative.
Cunningham facilitates Offshore Wind Training for IUOE Local 30
Zach Cunningham, Extension Associate for the Worker Institute and Mariah Dignan, of Climate Jobs NY deliver a riveting presentation on Climate Jobs and Offshore Wind (OSW) to IUOE Local 30
Skinner appears on Portland’s Maine WMPG Radio, Community Voices for Change, to discuss how Maine is working to build a new renewable energy economy with good union jobs.
Lara Skinner, Director of Labor Leading on Climate Initiative Cornell University ILR School spoke with The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy the University of Pennsylvania on a podcast: "Organized Labor Sees Promise in Transition to Clean Energy.
Report addresses labor movement, transition to green economy in RI
Skinner, director of Cornell's Labor Leading on Climate, highlighted the Carbon Free Healthy Schools recommendation — which suggests transitioning all K-12 public schools to net-zero emissions by 2030 using solar power — as one of the most impactful elements of the report.
Labor Unions Form New Group to Combat Climate Change in Maine
Labor unions in Maine say they have a lot of ideas on how the state can combat climate change and create clean energy jobs. The unions partnered with Cornell University's Labor Leading on Climate to study climate change and have set 11 goals for creating clean-energy jobs in Maine.
NYC unions rally behind ambitious new climate action plans
AM NY
Cornell's Labor Leading on Climate releases report in conjunction with the Climate Jobs New York (CJNY) outlining recommendations to Mayor Eric Adams’ administration as well as examining the impact of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic on NYC workers and schools.
Cunningham Presents on Carbon-Free & Healthy Schools Campaigns
Cunningham of the Worker Institute’s Labor Leading on Climate Initiative, in partnership with the Climate Jobs National Resource Center (CJNRC) and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), delivers training on Carbon-Free & Healthy Schools campaigns happening across the country.
Worker Institute outlines climate jobs plan for Rhode Island
Cornell Chronicle
The Labor Leading on Climate team releases a report outlining a comprehensive climate jobs action plan to put Rhode Island on the path to building an equitable clean energy economy.
Skinner participates in a virtual panel on climate change and the future of work, with a focus on the importance of including worker and community voices in shaping and implementing transitions to ensure the potential for just outcomes.
Unlocking the Transition: Politicians tout renewable energy jobs for ex-fossil fuel workers, but it's not so simple
Skinner, Labor Leading on Climate Director, says “there's not going to be a just transition because the pay and health and retirement benefits are not there.”
Skinner Participates at INET’s Just Transition and the Transition to Justice Conference
Lara Skinner, Director of the Worker Institute’s Labor Leading on Climate, participated in INET’s panel session, Retaking the Commons: What Will It Take?
How the US labor movement is getting to grips with the climate crisis
The Guardian
In Texas and West Virginia, unions are having tough conversations about the future of fossil fuels. Lara Skinner explains that the way forward includes finding new ways to support workers transitioning from oil and coal to cleaner jobs.
Lara Skinner, director of the ILR Worker Institute’s Labor Leading on Climate Change, will be honored Sept. 21 by the Alliance for a Greater New York with a 2021 Movement Builders Award.
Skinner to be Honored at the 2021 Movement Builders Awards
Lara Skinner, Labor Leading on Climate Director, is an honoree of the 2021 Movement Builders Awards for her tireless advocacy for a just transition to a renewable energy economy.
Offshore Wind Training Delivered to Communications Workers of America (CWA) Members across New York State
Zach Cunningham of the Worker Institute’s Labor Leading on Climate Initiative, in partnership with Climate Jobs NY, delivered a virtual training for Communications Workers of America (CWA) members across New York State.
Zach Cunningham and local partners deliver training for Local 338 (RWDSU)
Cunningham of the Worker Institute, in conjunction with Climate Jobs NY, delivers virtual training for the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Local 338.
'Everyone Wants a Good Job': The Texas Unions Fighting for a Green New Deal
At the Texas AFL-CIO’s annual convention on July 27th, 121 unions voted in favor of a resolution for a green jobs plan. The proposal was written by the Texas Climate Jobs Project, a project of the state labor federation and Cornell University’s Worker Institute in consultation with 27 unions statewide.
Why Texas fossil fuel unions signed onto a climate plan
Grist
Skinner, Labor Leading on Climate Director, says “there’s been a real focus on the carbon impact of proposals and not enough emphasis on what type of jobs are these activities going to create, what are the quality of these jobs, are they actually going to help reverse inequality.”
The UMWA local in Alabama has been on a five-month strike against Warrior Met Coal. Zach Cunningham, from Cornell's Labor Leading on Climate, proposes focusing on making the transition to renewable-energy sources one that provides good-paying jobs, rather than a narrative of “good jobs versus the environment.”
Energy transition could create 1.1 million jobs in Texas, report says
Lara Skinner, Director of Cornell’s Labor Leading on Climate Initiative, provided insight into the number of jobs that could be created in various aspects of growing the renewable energy and climate tech industries in Texas.
DOE's Granholm highlights need for 'place-based' climate investments
S&P Global
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm requested Lara Skinner's research on renewable energy labor standards as a possible model for the federal government,
Skinner Speaks at the Canadian Labour Congress Convention
Lara Skinner, Director of the Worker Institute’s Labor Leading on Climate program, will participate in the panel session “A Climate Action Agenda” at the June 10th Canadian Labour Congress Convention
