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Contact: Jacob Hay, 202-942-2282, 202-445-4788 or jhay@liuna.org
Las Vegas, NV – Terry O’Sullivan, General President of LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – told the National Clean Energy Summit today that simply weatherizing America’s housing can create tens of thousands of good jobs, save working people money and help free the nation from foreign oil.
“Every clean energy solution must be pursued, but we must remember the simple adage that a penny saved is a penny earned -- and weatherizing America’s homes can mean billions saved and billions earned,” O’Sullivan said. “Weatherization represents a new American industry that pays for itself by reducing energy bills and creating jobs.”
Buildings contribute 40% of U.S. global warming pollution and account for 70% of electricity use. Weatherizing 1 million homes means the equivalent of 5 million fewer barrels of imported oil and saves the average homeowner $350 a year on energy bills.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act invested $5 billion to expand the Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program – nearly a 10-fold increase in the amount typically invested in home weatherization.
O’Sullivan said helping to make the Obama Administration’s goal of weatherizing one million homes a year a reality is only a start. With nationwide training centers and new courses in weatherization and green construction, LIUNA is working to recruit and train workers on the scale needed to meet demand. LIUNA’s breakthrough weatherization training program provides workers with credentials to become weatherization installers, supervisors and energy auditors.
About 100 million U.S. homes need weatherizing. Weatherizing those homes would save the equivalent of 500 million barrels of oil, save homeowners billions of dollars a year in energy costs and create tens of thousands of jobs.
LIUNA’s current training programs can help the nation build the capacity to train enough workers to get the job done, and create a family-supporting career path for local residents in the construction industry.
“Good training and good jobs must be part of our national policy as we move forward with a clean energy program,” O’Sullivan said. “If it doesn’t put green in working people’s pockets, it’s not a green job.”
The members of LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – are on the forefront of the construction industry, a powerhouse of workers who are proud to build America.
