DETROIT, Mich. – Residents from Michigan and representatives from environmental organizations in the state rallied together in downtown Detroit today, as part of a national 1Sky Week of Action.
Over the past several months, environmental groups, including Environment Michigan, Clean Water Action, 1Sky, and Sierra Club, have gone door-to-door collecting thousands of postcard petitions and personally-written letters from the Upper Peninsula to the suburbs of Detroit. In addition, dozens of dedicated volunteer activists have worked to get hundreds of calls from constituents to Senators Stabenow and Levin. The petitions, letters and calls urge Senators Stabenow and Levin to support a clean energy economy that will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, protect our environment, and bring thousands of clean energy jobs to Michigan.
“The people of Michigan have spoken loud and clear,” said Shelley Vinyard of Environment Michigan. “They want our Senators to know that supporting clean energy is not only the right thing to do, it’s the right thing for Michigan’s economy. The state can’t be a leader in green jobs if we don’t put clean energy on Michigan’s resumé.”
The diverse coalition of participants at today’s event represented members of Michigan’s faith community, labor, small businesses, public health and environmental advocacy groups. Volunteers from these organizations delivered the letters and petitions in a large handmade train labeled the “Clean Energy Express.” Participants held posters with messages of support for the Senators, with statements such as “I Want a Green Job” and “Clean Energy Makes Cents.”
Investing in a clean energy economy is one of the biggest promises for job creation in Michigan. According to a Center for American Progress report released earlier this year, investment in clean energy creates four times as many jobs as that same investment in dirty energy technology, such as oil and coal.
There are already numerous success stories in the clean energy industry in Michigan like United Solar Ovonics, a leader in solar panel manufacturing whose headquarters are in Greenville, Michigan, and ATI Casting Service in Alpena, Michigan, a former automotive manufacturing facility that now creates components for wind turbines and employs hundreds of people.
“These are new jobs created right here, not overseas, that put our high-skilled Michigan labor force back to work,” said Jesse Worker, 1Sky Organizer with Clean Water Action. “Alpena and Greenville are only one of many places in Michigan that are already benefiting from investments in a clean energy economy.”
The Senate is scheduled to return from August recess September 9th, and will be working to pass strong climate legislation before the end of this year, when the United States heads to Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
“As our Senators head back to D.C., we are giving them a memorable send-off,” Worker said. “A united message from thousands of Michiganians supporting clean energy and green jobs is just the ticket.”
