If you’ve driven down the Southeast Expressway in Dorchester , then you’ve probably seen the big white wind turbine at Boston IBEW Local 103’s training center. The wind turbine is just one part of the IBEW’s efforts to support renewable energy technology in Massachusetts.  The efforts have gone beyond wind turbines and are now reaching into solar power.

Visit Wareham at night and you will see a beautifully illuminated memorial on the Town Hall. The memorial which honors the town’s fallen soldiers, now also symbolizes a commitment to the environment as the light is solar-powered.

IBEW Local 223 partnered with the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to get the solar-powered light working.  The labor to set up the light was contributed by Local 223 as part of its efforts to promote the advantages of both solar power and union labor.

This is just one example on a local level of how unions are leading the way in pushing for environmentally friendly projects that will serve the community. Click here to read an article about the new light in Wareham.

On a national level, unions are hoping to help the country shift towards renewable energy where appropriate. Using renewable energy helps save the earth’s resources, reduces pollution, and creates for a safer and healthier community. Labor unions and environmental conservation groups are arguing that transitioning to a ‘green economy’ would give us an opportunity to address America ’s energy and employment problems at once.

A new report, titled Job Opportunities for the Green Economy, released earlier this week takes a close look at the type of job skills that would be required to support a “green economy” and finds that millions of jobs may be created by such a transition. Click here to read more about the report. Click here to read the report.

While the promise of new jobs is an exciting one, unions such as the IBEW are also working to make sure that the creation of new, green-economy supporting jobs, are also family-sustaining jobs. They are also working to make sure that any transition to a ‘green economy’ doesn’t harm workers already positioned in the energy industry, by making sure workers get the re-training they would need for the green jobs of the future.