FAQ

LEP develops practical, science-based policy that can decarbonize industry, power, and the economy. In the report, Building to Net-Zero: A U.S. Policy Blueprint for Gigaton-Scale CO2 Transport and Storage Infrastructure, LEP identified three regional hubs that can deploy carbon capture technology and remove over 337 million tons per year of CO2 emissions from power plants, industrial plants, and other emitters.

It is critical for working people in the U.S. to know that fighting climate change is not going to come at the cost of their jobs or quality of life. LEP supports organized labor by promoting domestic supply chains for clean technology, and by preserving and creating jobs in clean energy sectors. For example, in our Roundtable Summary: The Future of Offshore Wind Energy in the United States, LEP identified that unions will play a critical role in training the labor force for the domestic wind industry. The report found that “key labor unions have robust training programs that can be readily and swiftly adapted to offshore wind companies’ skill needs, as long as the companies are specific about those needs.” In addition, LEP’s place-based strategy approach seeks to ensure clear pathways to clean energy jobs for energy sector workers in communities that have historically relied on carbon industries. They shouldn’t have to move, accept lower-wage work with fewer benefits, or be sidelined for an undetermined amount of time without employment.

LEP receives generous funding from Breakthrough Energy in addition to resource contributions from EFI and AFL-CIO.

LEP is led by the senior leadership of the AFL-CIO and EFI. The executive council comprises AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, EFI CEO and former Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, UMWA President Cecil Roberts, and IBEW President Lonnie Stephenson. Working meetings with LEP staff and affiliates are convened weekly.

LEP engages with union affiliates, collaborates with business and policy leaders, and analyzes publicly available studies and data. For example, in Roundtable Summary: The Future of Offshore Wind Energy in the United States, LEP convened stakeholders from labor and business, as well as regulators, policymakers, and senior White House officials. Research from EFI and AFL-CIO staff added to the context and findings in the report.

A union job is so much more than a job. It’s a career, a sense of empowerment — a high quality of life and good health care and the ability to retire with dignity with a union pension. And the sense of belonging when you have the support of a broader movement of working people who are all pulling in the same direction. Unions are the best way to raise wages, safety standards, and bring clean energy industries up to the highest workforce standards. A recent study demonstrated that energy jobs pay about 34 percent higher wages on averages than the median pay across all industries in the United States