Statement from Jessica Looman, Executive Director
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On behalf of the 70,000 union construction professionals in the State of Minnesota, I want to congratulate the Minnesota Senate DFL Clean Energy Caucus for their focus on a responsible, practical, and meaningful approach to achieving our State’s clean energy future.
The Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council supports policies that meet the energy needs of today and help us build toward a clean energy future by advocating for the expansion of renewable energy, power storage, energy efficiency and innovative technologies.
The Minnesota Building Trades believes that:
- Climate Change must be addressed.
- Investments must be made in the operations, maintenance and repair of Minnesota’s energy infrastructure.
- Investments must be made in the development and deployment of technologies like solar, wind, nuclear, hydro-electric, carbon capture and utilization, battery storage, and low carbon and electrified transportation.
- Investments must be made to increase energy efficiency in industrial commercial and residential buildings, retrofit and upgrades to schools and public buildings and to make our communities safe and resilient.
- All work in the legacy, renewable, and energy efficiency sectors must be performed by the safest, most highly trained, skilled workers in Minnesota.
- Minnesota’s prevailing wages, labor and licensing standards are critical to successfully building the infrastructure for our clean energy future.
- All communities and workers must be respected.
- Energy must be reliable, accessible and affordable.
The Minnesota Building Trades Council’s pro-worker energy policy initiatives are aligned with the work of the Senate DFL Clean Energy Caucus and we look forward to working with this newly formed caucus, the entire Minnesota legislature and the Walz-Flanagan Administration to ensure that Minnesota’s clean energy future is good for our state, our economy, our communities, and Minnesota workers.