Labor and Kyoto

 

Activists battling the effects of globalization often mention labor and environmental concerns in the same sentence, but labor usually doesn’t see it that way. Labor has managed to thwart environmental protections, and environmental groups often fail to consider the problems of labor. In the 1970s, for instance, the glass workers’ unions strenuously opposed bottle return plans on the grounds that they would reduce the need for new glass and, therefore, reduce the need for glass workers. Over the years, the United Auto Workers have consistently sided with the auto industry in opposing any emissions or fuel economy standards because they would possibly increase the price of new cars and thereby cut into sales.


Even at the international level, U.S. labor has fought environmental regulation, sometimes successfully. Leading up to, and during the negotiations over the Kyoto Climate Change Convention and Treaty, the AFL-CIO sought to oppose any greenhouse gas reductions because of the possible effect on employment. The opposition was headed by the United Mine Workers of America on the grounds that if Kyoto were approved, there would be fewer coal mining jobs. As a result, the AFL-CIO opposed the Kyoto Treaty and helped keep the U.S. from ratifying it...

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