Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is deeply invested in seeing the clean energy sector grow, and we’ve already witnessed a transformation. Despite attempts by the Trump Administration to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, our cities and states have said loud and proud that clean energy is here to stay. Currently, over 45 cities including Atlanta, Salt Lake City, and San Diego have already adopted an ambitious goal of 100% clean renewable energy across the United States by the year 2050. My hometown of Santa Barbara, CA approved a measure for a community-wide goal of 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030, including transitioning all municipal buildings and operations to 50 percent clean electricity by 2020.
But our vision doesn’t stop there. It is not enough to adopt clean energy; we want to ensure the jobs in this growing sector are good, family-supporting jobs, and with strong and competitive benefits which help recruit and retain the best talent. We are striving for a fair and just transition to a clean energy economy that works for working people. That leaves a growing sector in the spotlight. The clean energy sector is vast – covering topics from solar, wind, storage, research, manufacturing, and more. It is also young. Some companies are only a few years old and self-identify as start-ups, while others are large and well-established with tens of thousands of employees.
We must not conclude that an industry seen as upholding progressive values will align those values in their internal policies. We’ve seen the damage of a toxics male-dominated work environment within the tech sector – another new industry with a culture of “bro-grammers.” This is not for lack of women interested in the sector. Last year Dartmouth made history by graduating more women engineers than men. Unfortunately, those young women entered a very different demographic in the workplace than in their classrooms. Women are grossly underrepresented in the clean energy sector – 28% of the clean energy sector, as compared with 48% of the national workforce.
The Solar Foundation produced their first-ever diversity report earlier this year. The 2017 U.S. Solar Industry Diversity Study provides statistically significant evidence for what has long been casually observed, proving that women and people of color face significant hurdles to accessing the equal pay and senior positions of their white male counterparts, with women of color being affected the most. The report found that all women and people of color are less likely to earn top-tier wages than their white male peers. Meanwhile, only 14% of companies have a strategy in place to increase female workforce representation.
It is well-known through decades of research that diversity is strongly correlated with financial performance across businesses. In the face of tremendous workforce growth, it is critical to create a clean energy culture that welcomes, encourages, and advances equity and inclusion. The opportunity cost is too great.
The good news is that – as with many things – the solutions benefits everyone. One of those examples is comprehensive paid family leave. PL+US is an organization fighting to win paid family leave for everyone working in the U.S. Their research shows that 87% of people in the United States do not have access to paid leave. Nonetheless, the benefits of paid leave are vast, as outlined by the Senate’s Joint Economic Committee, including reducing the gender pay gap, improves employee retention, increased productivity and staff morale. Maternity leave also benefits the health of both mother and child. Paid leave is a critical part of making the workplace flexible and welcoming to all people. Companies such as Amazon understand the value of ensuring that employees are able to care for their families – including their employees’ spouses.
There are 114 million people in the United States with no paid time off to care for a new child or sick family member. That's not right -- and it's time for change. PLUS, in partnership with the Sierra Club and WRISE, is offering a first-ever sector-specific training for employees interested in adopting a paid family leave program at their company. Sign up for the webinar series here.
Let’s not only reach for 100% clean energy, but let’s also make the clean energy be the first to adopt 100% paid family leave industry-wide.