A groundbreaking new poll released today by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights finds that California voters strongly support public investments to create green jobs and prepare people to work in fields that improve the environment. The results lend timely backing to legislation just introduced by Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg that would invest $5 billion in funding for education and training to prepare students and workers for green careers.
(Poll findings can be found here: Ella Baker Center Green Jobs Poll (http://www.ellabakercenter.org//?p=gcjc_green_jobs_poll).
Oakland-based Ella Baker Center commissioned a poll of 602 likely voters in California to test public opinion about "green jobs." Of those polled, 80% said that it was either extremely or moderately important "to invest in creating green-collar jobs." Steinberg's SB 675 -- The Clean Technology and Renewable Energy Job Training, Career Technical Education and Dropout Prevention Act -- would provide grants to build new schools and training facilities, upgrade existing ones, or purchase equipment to provide students and workers with the skills to succeed in green careers.
"This initiative will prepare Californians for our state's clean energy future, including disadvantaged Californians who may not otherwise have pathways into good, green careers," said Ian Kim, director of the Ella Baker Center's Green-Collar Jobs Campaign.
Among the poll's findings:
• Voters overwhelmingly support investing in green-collar jobs. 80% of voters said that it was extremely or moderately important to invest in green jobs immediately. Nearly three in four said they would support fast-tracked investments in solar, wind, and other clean energy projects, and tax breaks for small businesses that create green jobs.
• Voters broadly support green jobs training and green vocational programs as a tool to provide new opportunities for current and future workers. Nearly four in five voters said they would support providing green-collar job training for veterans and workers who have recently lost their jobs. Nearly three in four said they would support green vocational education programs in middle schools, high schools, and community colleges that prepare students for green-collar jobs.
• Voters are willing to pay for investment in green-collar jobs. Investing in green-collar jobs is so important to voters that they are willing to pass tax increases in order to fund it. An overwhelming 72% support a small increase on the income tax of millionaires; more than two-thirds support taxing oil company profits; and a strong majority of voters support taxing sources of pollution that cause global warming.
Officials from David Binder Research who conducted the survey believe the numbers signify a cultural shift in the values of Californian voters. "Survey results show that the current challenges facing the economy and the environment create a perfect storm of support for immediate investment in green-collar jobs," said analyst Seiji Carpenter.
A new coalition, the Green Jobs Working Group, was recently convened to support bills like Steinberg's SB 675. This cross-sector alliance of labor, social justice, and environmental organizations is comprised of the following members: California Apollo Alliance, California Labor Federation, California State Building and Construction Trades Council, Central Valley Air Quality Coalition, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Sierra Club California.
"Senator Steinberg should be commended for calling for bold investments in green infrastructure and career technical education when California needs them the most," said Phil Angelides, Chairman of the Apollo Alliance, which has been at the forefront of national, state, and local advocacy efforts to build a clean energy economy.
The focus in SB 675 on partnerships between educational institutions, apprenticeship programs, and businesses is particularly attractive to organized labor, which could see opportunities for new jobs in construction, energy efficiency retrofits, and renewable energy. "In the building trades, we have long understood that protecting the environment, and building a strong economy that provides good jobs, go hand in hand," said President Bob Balgenorth, State Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO. "Building trades unions and their workers look forward to working with Senate President Pro Tem Steinberg to move this groundbreaking legislation forward."
The Ella Baker Center is an anchor organization of the Oakland Apollo Alliance, a coalition that helped create the Oakland Green Jobs Corps project. Part social enterprise, part think-tank, and part advocacy arm, the Ella Baker Center's Green-Collar Jobs Campaign works for a green economy in California that is strong enough to lift people out of poverty.
For more information, visit http://www.ellabakercenter.org/
For poll results please click here, California Green Jobs Poll (http://www.ellabakercenter.org//?p=gcjc_green_jobs_poll) |
