Clean Air and Good Jobs

U.S. Labor and the Struggle for Climate Justice

Todd E. Vachon

• Publisher: Temple University Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781439923221, 9781439923214
• eBook ISBN: 9781439923238
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Labour & Industrial Relations
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The labor–climate movement in the U.S. laid the groundwork for the Green New Deal by building a base within labor for supporting climate protection as a vehicle for good jobs. But as we confront the climate crisis and seek environmental justice, a "jobs vs. environment" discourse often pits workers against climate activists. How can we make a "just transition" moving away from fossil fuels, while also compensating for the human cost when jobs are lost or displaced?

In his timely book, Clean Air and Good Jobs, Todd Vachon examines the labor–climate movement and demonstrates what can be envisioned and accomplished when climate justice is on labor's agenda and unions work together with other social movements to formulate bold solutions to the climate crisis. Vachon profiles the workers and union leaders who have been waging a slow, but steadily growing revolution within their unions to make labor as a whole an active and progressive champion for both workers and the environment.

Clean Air and Good Jobs examines the "movement within the movement" offering useful solutions to the dual crises of climate and inequality.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface: A Prequel to the Green New Deal
• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• 1. “The Biggest Threat to Our Humanity”: Climate Change and the Emerging Labor–Climate Movement
• 2. From Donora to Dakota: A Mixed History of Labor–Environmental Relations in the United States
• 3. Industry, Interests, and Ideology: Understanding the Labor–Climate Spectrum
• 4. “Climate Change Is Unequivocally a Labor Issue”: Defining the Problem and Identifying Targets
• 5. Union Workers for a Clean and Just Economy: The Prognostic Frames of a Just Transition
• 6 Educate, Agitate, Organize: The Tactical Repertoire of the Labor–Climate Movement
• 7. Pandemics, Presidents, and Public Perceptions: Changing Opportunity Structures for the Labor–Climate Movement
• 8. Conclusion: The Journey from Climate Alienation to Climate Solidarity
• Notes
• References
• Index