Lucy Gellman Photo
Salahuddin (center) and ATU colleagues: More jobs, better air.
When New Haveners march for science on Saturday, they won’t just be fighting climate change. They’ll be fighting for jobs in the state.
Legislators, union affiliates, faith leaders, scientists and environmental activists delivered that message Tuesday morning at Common Ground school, where they had gathered for a press conference on climate change and job growth in the state. The hour-long affair was part of the CT Roundtable on Climate and Jobs, a collaboration between the Interreligious Eco-Justice Network (IREJN) and Connecticut AFL-CIO, the statewide chapter of a national network of unions.
Sierra Club and CT 350 advocate Diane Lentakis and Rock to Rock youth advocate Emma Jane Martin-Mooney.
Held beside Common Ground’s sun-soaked urban farm, the press conference was designed as a call to action before New Haven’s Rock to Rock bike ride and March for Science this Saturday at Common Ground and East Rock Park. Starting where the environmentally minded Rock to Rock ride ends, the march is one of hundreds taking place nationally on Saturday, followed by the People’s Climate March in Washington a week later. Rock to Rock meanwhile celebrates Earth Day, raising money for the city’s environmental nonprofits.
The call to march follows President Donald Trump’s proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), statements debating the reality of climate change, and campaign promise to pull the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement.
Murphy: Why not the U.S.?
New Haven pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions earlier this year; now many of its advocates are setting their sights on the state. Taking a page from Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy argued that Connecticut should start invoking the “rototiller rule” — that if you borrow something, you should give it back in even better condition as a gesture of respect — before warning that “the clock is ticking on our ability to prevent disaster.”
“I can’t believe we’re having a march for science,” he said. “It’s ridiculous. It’s like having a march for two plus two equals four.”
Murphy and other speakers added that fighting climate change isn’t just about protecting the environment — it’s about creating jobs and making Connecticut’s economy stronger. Pointing to the state’s forays into solar energy and alternative plant- and animal-based fuel sources, Murphy repeated a point he has made on stops to the city and state before: Some country is going to get the majority of renewable energy jobs. “Why should it not be the United States?” he asked.
Murphy talks with Valerie Horsley, Anna Ruth Pickett, and other march participants and organizers.
Mustafa Salahuddin, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1336 in Bridgeport, added public transportation to that list. Citing the nearly 40 percent of statewide greenhouse gas emissions that come from cars and trucks — and the increased rates of asthma they have caused for kids in New Haven and Bridgeport — he argued for increased bus funding and route expansion from Connecticut’s Department of Transportation. Addressing a public health issue for cities with poor air quality could also create more jobs in public transportation, he argued.
“Let’s join in the fight to make our air cleaner,” he urged the crowd. “Get on the bus, and march in the streets.”
The March for Science New Haven takes place this Saturday, April 22, at 2 p.m. in East Rock Park. For more information, visit its website. There are also New Haven and Connecticut buses heading to the People’s Climate March on April 29; to find out more about those, click here .