Illinois Fighting Inequality and Climate Change through Green Jobs

Solar Jobs
Crews complete construction of the solar panel structure at the O2 Energies solar panel farm in Newland, N.C., Thursday, Aug. 4, 2011. Bob Leverone / AP
Solar Jobs
Crews complete construction of the solar panel structure at the O2 Energies solar panel farm in Newland, N.C., Thursday, Aug. 4, 2011. Bob Leverone / AP

Illinois Fighting Inequality and Climate Change through Green Jobs

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A Republican House Study Committee in Washington D.C. calls the Green New Deal a “thinly veiled attempt to usher in policies that create a socialist society in America”. But states are already implementing the kind of job creation ideas the “Green New Deal” advocates. In Illinois, the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) has job training provisions for low income people. We talk with a man who’s received solar energy installation training and Elevate Energy, the group who trained him. There are plans to increase these low income job training programs in new pending legislation called the Clean Energy Jobs Act. We’ll hear about the coalition of groups that’s advocating for equity in Illinois’s new green jobs.