Issue: Oil

Since 2008, the National Surveys on Energy and the Environment (NSEE) have been exploring views of global warming among American adults. In the 24th wave of the survey, NSEE reached five key findings:

American acceptance of global warming is at a record high, with 75% of adults believing there is solid evidence that temperatures have increased over the last four decades;
Americans are more confident in their view that the planet is warming, with 51% indicating they are very confident global warming is happening;
Nearly 6 in 10 adults indicated that there is strong evidence of global warming and that humans are partially responsible;  
Almost half – 47% – of Americans attributed 2020’s record warmth to human induced global warming;
Action on climate change is more varied among respondents: mitigation efforts are the most commonly identified climate policies (39%), and nearly equal portions of respondents prioritized adaptation (16%) and geoengineering (17%).

The concept of a “just transition” has permeated mainstream discourse, yet those who will likely be most impacted by the energy transition – frontline workers and their communities – have mostly been excluded from the conversation. This report, derived from over 100 listening sessions and interviews with workers and frontline community members, encourages policymakers to:

Go Big: Be guided by a just transition vision that is ambitious and comprehensive in order to address the scope of impacts for affected communities and industries. Job creation, labor standards, and workers’ rights must be included.
Go Wide: Impacts from economic transitions can be felt in a number of ways, from financial to social to psychological. Policymakers should engage with existing social infrastructure such as labor unions, frontline community groups, and Indigenous nations to make sure support is readily available.
Go Far: While the climate crisis is urgent, just transition plans must not be fixated on the short-term. Instead, policymakers should include long-term commitments to workers and their communities as part of their vision and take into account differences in generational needs between older, established workers and those just entering the workforce.

In addition, the report addresses how labor and advocacy organizations need to develop authentic, trusting relationships with each other to build political and policy alignment around just transition goals. One way to start is to establish and expand internal committees and capacities to understand each other’s issues and perspectives.

This report looks at the intersection of pollution from refining and burning fossil fuels, repiratory diseases caused or exacerbated by this pollution, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and race and racial inequality in the United States. It makes the case that the CARES Act constitutes a bailout of the dirty energy sector that spent more to prop-up the fossil fuel industry than it did on health care supplies and investments, even as this industry contributes to the adverse health outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic in communities of color. The report’s key findings also link large financial sector players like big banks, asset management companies, private equity and insurance companies to the chain of carbon and chemical emissions that have disproprotionately negative impacts on communities of color and low-income communities.