Public Impact

Researchers at the ILR School’s Climate Jobs Institute (CJI) are helping to ensure the solar workforce is treated as fairly and equitably as employees in other industries.

Colorado Climate Jobs wants high-quality union jobs, lower costs for working families and a clean energy economy that works for Coloradans. Are they possible under the new administration?

Climate Jobs Colorado is a new organization dedicated to promoting union labor as part of the green energy movement. Using union workers for climate work — like building solar panels or new power lines — not only helps the environment but also creates well-paying, stable jobs for Coloradans, coalition leaders said.

Colorado labor unions launched a new coalition Thursday to argue that the transition away from fossil fuels should be powered not just by renewable energy, but by union jobs.

In September, the Machinists enthusiastically endorsed a new climate transition plan.

At the 2024 IAM Grand Lodge Convention, a groundbreaking discussion was held, with insights from a comprehensive study conducted by Cornell ILR's Climate Jobs Institute, in partnership with the IAM, about the urgency of the climate crisis and potential for growth and renewal within the union.

According to the report, 43% of respondents across all sectors reported experiencing a heat-related illness.

A field team surveyed 1,224 non-union workers in Texas’ solar or wind construction and manufacturing jobs about their labor conditions, then conducted in-depth interviews with some respondents.

"Green jobs are kind of being sold as this equitable, just transition that people will go into and it's really like a life-changing career and that is not the case from what we're finding," said Avalon Hoek Spaans, assistant director of research at Cornell’s ILR Climate Jobs Institute.

New York's rapid expansion in solar energy capacity depends on overworked transient labor, according to a recent study.

“Climate change is often perceived as purely an environmental issue — maybe a technical or scientific issue — but not a social, economic or jobs issue” said Skinner at the second annual MI Healthy Climate Conference on May 16, 2024 at the Lansing Center.

On April 26, Cornell’s Climate Jobs Institute released “Exploring the Conditions of the New York Solar Workforce,” which surveyed more than 260 solar installation and maintenance workers findings reveal that New York solar construction workers are transient, may not receive benefits, and are subject to racial disparities in pay.

“The Climate Jobs Institute report addresses a core aspect of tackling the dual crises of climate change and inequality: ensuring that diverse individuals and historically underserved communities are included in the shift to high-quality, clean energy careers through union jobs,” said Lara Skinner, executive director of the Climate Jobs Institute.

Avalon Hoek Spaans, Assistant Director of Research at the Climate Jobs Insititute, shares what inspired them to seek a career focused on climate science, hoping to contribute to a more environmentally just and sustainable society.

A Climate Jobs Roadmap for Washington State, "is a bold first step towards a pro-worker clean energy transition that meets the scale of this crisis and addresses long-standing racial and economic inequality,” says Lara Skinner, Founding Executive Director of the Climate Jobs Institute at Cornell University.

The Climate Jobs Institute releases, "Washington Climate Jobs Roadmap: A Worker-Centered Approach to a Clean Energy Future," a culmination of a two-year process that included interviews with more than 85 labor, environmental and industry leaders and policymakers, educational convenings, and qualitative and quantitative research.

Senate Labor Committee Chair Jessica Ramos, a Queens Democrat, and Lara Skinner, executive director of the Climate Jobs Institute at Cornell University's ILR School, share what they learned about creating good-paying jobs in the renewable energy sector during a visit to Denmark this summer.

The Climate Jobs Institute Training and Education team legislative testimony workshops help lead to legislative wins in Maine.

“The Cornell University Climate Jobs Institute delivers training for union members on climate change and clean energy, and connects policymakers with labor, environmental and industry leaders to navigate this historic transition,” says Dovan Lomax, Political Director, District Council 9 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) in NY.

The Industrial and Labor Relations School launched their Climate Jobs Institute on Jan. 25. The Institute will help New York state transition to a stronger clean energy economy by addressing the climate crisis and creating more jobs through continued cutting-edge research.