How to Achieve Economic Justice in Illinois' Clean Energy Transition

Over the last decade, Sierra Club has developed an expert level ability to shut down coal plants, but has been seeking ways to better support the economically vulnerable and underserved communities bearing an unequal burden from these facilities. In my work as Labor Coordinator in both the Healthy Communities Campaign and Labor program I have developed the term "Racial and Economic Just Transition" to describe the orientation of focusing on repairing the historical injustice against Black communities and communities of color through progressive labor conscious work.

We believe the following report, "How to Achieve Economic Justice in Illinois’ Clean Energy Transition" is a blueprint for building Racial and Economic Just Transition at the state level. It is my hope that this report will help you integrate racial and economic justice into your own work. It is the product of years of work alongside the IL Chapter to detail "pathways to build on the 2016 Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) and to further work toward equitable job access and economic opportunities in the Illinois clean energy sector".

This report outlines and provides evidence for the most powerful best practices to support economic justice in the clean energy transition in Illinois. The main topics of the report are:

How to Achieve Economic Justice in Illinois' Clean Energy Transition:

Ways to support both workers and communities as society moves away from fossil fuels.

Increasing Access and Diversity in the Clean Energy Workforce:

Build pathways to clean energy jobs through training programs and partnerships that support people of color, women, low-wage and unemployed workers, & former fossil fuel workers.

Improving Job Quality:

Ensure that clean energy jobs offer family-supporting wages, fair benefits and that new energy infrastructure benefits communities.

Expanding Entrepreneurship:

Change bidding processes to foster opportunities for clean energy businesses and contractors owned and operated by people of color and women.

Funding Workforce Equity Initiatives:

Take care of the workers currently employed in the fossil fuel industry energy, preserve union-won benefits in energy sector employment, expand access to high-road jobs, and ensure that all residents have access to clean energy.

Building a Just Transition from Fossil Fuels:

Protect workers and communities affected by the closure of fossil fuel extraction, production, transmission, and distribution facilities and invest in an equitable and sustainable future.

Commissioned by Sierra Club’s Healthy Communities Campaign, this report was written by Inclusive Economics and Illinois Economic Policy Institute with curation by Christine Nannicelli, Rebecca Judd of the IL Chapter. Additional contributions were made by Sharonda Williams-Tack of the Healthy Communities Campaign, and myself. The content of the report, while created by Inclusive Economics and ILEPI, was guided by input from many IL stakeholders who invested significant hours of intense work with Rebecca Judd and Christine Nannicelli. Rebecca and Christine were an integral part of creating the final product that became the Future Energy Jobs Act. For more context on what it takes to build incredible collaborative work like this, reach out to Kady McFadden and Jack Darin of the Sierra Club IL Chapter who are tremendous leaders in this work.

On a personal note, I want to thank Pedro Cruz and Sharonda Williams-Tack of Healthy Communities. A big thanks to Leslie Fields, National Director, Policy Advocacy & Legal and Derrick Figures, Sierra Club Labor Director for supporting a vision to ensure that the "’How to Achieve Economic Justice in Illinois’ Clean Energy Transition" report gets it's just due. Special thanks to Dean Hubbard who have pioneered a more progressive vision for labor work at the world's largest and oldest environmental organization.

For over five years, I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside the best Sierra Club has had to offer as a member of the mighty Progressive Workers Union (PWU). While it is bittersweet that this will be my final word as I am leaving the Sierra Club, I'm more than excited for those who will continue to build on the work we have championed pushing the needle forward on racial, climate and economic justice.