Statement on U.S. Sens. Kerry-Lieberman's American Power Act

USW Stresses Need for Energy, Climate Legislation to Create Jobs

WASHINGTON, May 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW), today issued the following statement upon release of the discussion draft for the 'American Power Act' (APA) and the need for comprehensive energy and climate legislation that creates and retains jobs.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080131/DC12982LOGO)

"The USW has long believed that the goals of stopping the threat of climate change and creating thousands of clean energy jobs can and should be two sides of the same coin.  To do this, a climate bill must ensure that emissions are actually reduced and not simply off-shored along with millions of American jobs.

"A well-constructed approach should limit the amount of carbon 'leakage' – the incentive for production of goods and jobs to simply move to countries that fail to address global climate change.  This leakage of emissions and jobs has the potential to undermine both the economic and environmental goals of energy and climate legislation, and it is critical that any climate bill include a comprehensive and fully-funded package of policies to prevent it.

"Energy-intensive, trade-exposed manufactured products will be more heavily impacted by a carbon price than others -- and while this can be mitigated long-term by improvements in efficiency and cleaner processes -- this will take time and requires the right combination of adopted policies.  In the meantime, these industries could potentially face decimation and massive job loss at the hands of foreign competitors that do not face similar carbon costs, unless both a short-term and long-term program is put in place to ensure the cost disadvantage faced by US manufacturers is eliminated.

"At the beginning of the U.S. program, a robust and fully-funded transition assistance program of output-based allocations for at-risk manufacturers is necessary.  These allocations will allow manufacturers the breathing room necessary to make investments in cleaner processes, but they should be considered temporary in nature.  They must be backed up by a border allowance requirement on products from countries that do not share America's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through effective, meaningful and comparable policies.

"Climate change legislation, done properly, has the potential to create new and expanding opportunities for revitalizing manufacturing and job creation in this country.  This requires not only a comprehensive anti-leakage program, but a variety of other policies such as an ambitious Renewable Electricity Standard, an effective worker training provision, and incentives for clean energy product manufacturing.  It must recognize that for the American economy to truly thrive, this bill must focus on the entire clean energy supply chain.

"The USW is pleased that U.S. Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman have included a variety of key provisions in their discussion draft of the American Power Act, including the crucial anti-leakage provisions.  

"While there are many details that remain to be worked out in terms of sufficiency of allocations -- qualification for these programs, the strength and certainty of the border allowance requirement -- the USW appreciates the work done by the Senators to move the process forward and bring us to this point.  We were proud of our decision to support the U.S. House climate bill last year, and for the role we played in its narrow passage.  

"We look forward to continuing a productive working relationship that will hopefully result in a comprehensive bill in the Senate that reduces greenhouse gasses and creates the new clean energy jobs of the future, while retaining existing American manufacturing jobs."

The USW is North America's largest industrial union, representing 850,000 workers in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply, and the energy-producing industries.  Since 1990, the USW has been a leader on the issue of climate change and continues to be in the forefront of the debate for comprehensive climate change legislation that supports sustainable domestic jobs.

For more information: www.usw.org/.

Contact: Gary Hubbard, 202-778-4384 (O); 202-256-8125 (C); [email protected]

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)