Sierra Club Youth Attend Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference in Washington DC

“I love nature.”
“I gotta work”
“I want good green jobs”

That was the rallying cry of the Sierra Club’s youth delegation at the Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference on May 4th – 6th. Representing dozens of communities in twenty states from across the country, 79 vibrant, green-minded young people descended upon Washington, DC demanding green jobs.

Twelve youth from The Wellness Coalition in Silver City and the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps in Taos made up the New Mexico youth delegation. These youth were picked by their organizations, our partner grantees, through a rigorous competitive process.

In its third year, the Conference drew a record crowd of 3500 activists from around the country, including a Sierra Club delegation of about 300 staff and volunteers. The Conference was coordinated by the Blue Green Alliance, a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations, which now unites 8.5 million people in pursuit of good jobs, a clean environment, and a green economy.

The Sierra Club made it a priority to highlight the youth voice at this year’s Conference. Nearly one quarter of the Sierra Club delegation was under 30, and they came from every imaginable walk of life: rural New Mexicans, youth from New York and LA, college students, and a fairly large contingent from our nation’s capitol.

Joining the youth from Taos and Silver City, a six-person “blue-green” delegation of New Mexican environmentalists, labor leaders, and Sierra Club members attended this year’s conference. The blue-green delegation included Conservation Voters NM and the Northern NM Central Labor Council, in addition to Sierra Club staff and members from Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

The youth delegation kicked off the conference with a service project at the Anacostia River with local partner, Earth Conservation Corps. The youth also took part in the Green Innovations Expo through a workshop on green jobs with 200 DC schoolchildren. Working with the DC youth helped bring that youth element needed at the conference.

With hundreds of workshops to choose from, New Mexico delegates focused on topics most relevant to the “green” work they already do, or want to do, back home. For example, Pat Vigil (Union of Operating Engineers Local 953/NNMCLC) attended sessions about wind power given his local represents crane and other heavy machinery operators at wind farm installations.

Clean energy organizer Shrayas Jatkar attended workshops on weatherization, building retrofit, and renewable energy industries, critical issues now being discussed in the formation of Albuquerque’s Renewable Energy Financing District, in which the Sierra Club and scores of partners are currently engaged

Our New Mexico youth attended a breakfast with Senator Udall and spoke with him about their activities at the conference. Senator Bingaman opened up his office for photos and a chat with the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps delegation.

At Advocacy Day, the NM delegates urged swift passage of a strong clean energy and climate protection bill in meetings with Senator Bingaman and Udall’s staff. Even more special was the impromptu face time with Congressmen Heinrich and Luján, who was a featured speaker at this year’s Conference.

Bringing together youth, environmentalists and labor leaders from New Mexico sent a powerful message to our Congressional delegation. Check out our blog at www.sierraclub.org/youth for some insights from one of our delegates, and join us at the 2011 Conference when we hope to have an even larger and more diverse NM blue-green delegation

BY
Kristina Ortez de Jones, Southwest Youth Program Representative,
Building Bridges to the Outdoors
- AND -
Shrayas Jatkar, Associate Regional Representative
Clean Energy Solutions & Federal/Int’l. Curbing Carbon campaigns