A bus tour aimed at promoting President Barack Obama’s plan to combat climate change paid a visit Friday to the USW headquarters in Pittsburgh, carrying the message that cleaning up the environment and creating good jobs are goals that can and should be achieved together.
The “I Will Act” tour stop in Pittsburgh, sponsored by the Blue-Green Alliance, was one of 27 stops on the national tour, and featured remarks by USW International Vice President Fred Redmond and U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., as well as officials from the Sierra Club, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), among other groups.
Redmond praised the president for his commitment to act with or without help from Republicans in Congress, some of whom continue to deny that the problem of climate change even exists.
“That debate has gone on for far too long,” Redmond said. “We as Steelworkers have every intention of making sure that the president’s plan goes forward.”
That plan includes initiatives to control greenhouse gases through stepped-up enforcement of the Clean Air Act, as well as through modernization of buildings, factories, vehicles, roads and other infrastructure. Those efforts will boost the economy, Redmond said.
“Rebuilding our infrastructure will create jobs and help our environment,” Redmond said.
Rep. Doyle said that while Republicans in Congress are reluctant to act, there is “overwhelming scientific evidence” of climate change.
“We see the evidence all around us,” Doyle said, citing increasingly powerful natural disasters in recent years, including last fall’s “super storm” Hurricane Sandy. Doyle said that the physical and financial costs of such disasters will only grow if we fail to act.
Shawn Garvin, an EPA regional administrator, dismissed the often-repeated argument that increased environmental regulations will kill jobs.
“That’s what they’ve said every time, and every time they’ve been wrong,” Garvin said, noting that there has been an increase of more than 200 percent in the Gross Domestic Product since the EPA began regulating businesses.
“The only question is: Are we going to act in time to really make a difference?” Garvin said.