Thank our Contra Costa Representative Mark DeSaulnier for authoring this amendment to the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act (H.R. 4447), which passed the House of Representatives September 24. The amendment provides grant funding to communities to help workers transition from jobs in the fossil fuel industry to more sustainable jobs.
The press release from DeSaulnier’s office says the measure requires local governments that get the grants to “partner with labor unions, environmental groups, and industry to develop transition plans and apprenticeship programs for the fossil fuel workforce to plan for current or future shifts to more sustainable jobs and industries. Transition plans would be required to include unemployment insurance, job transition training, and community services for the affected community. In practice, a grant like this would help Contra Costa better prepare for the impacts to the local workforce and economy from the recently announced changes at Marathon and Phillips 66.”
Now all we need is a Senate that will pass it too.