Labor Has Only One Candidate: Bernie Sanders

[TomCADem]

7. United Mine Workers Doubt Green New Deal Promises: 'We Don't Believe It'

Bernie Sanders sends pizzas to Kentucky coal miners protesting Blackjewel
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/22/bernie-sanders-sends-pizza-laid-off-kentucky-blackjewel-coal-miners/2070257001/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/united-mine-workers-green-new-deal-coal-union_n_5d7020b5e4b0cdfe057a63ef

“People are talking about us needing a ‘transition’… Well, our transition has unfortunately been at the bankruptcy court,” Roberts said. “Nobody cares about this. Let’s be honest.”

Roberts’ speech, delivered the same day a climate town hall for presidential hopefuls would be broadcast on CNN, underscored one of the major hurdles progressive Democrats face in enacting some form of a Green New Deal to dramatically curb greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change. The proposal calls for a sweeping industrial plan to rapidly shift away from fossil fuels, plant billions of trees and rebuild infrastructure to withstand a hotter, less predictable world.

There are different versions of such a plan, though all promise to create good-paying jobs and look after workers in industries hurt in the transition. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), one of the most vocal proponents of a Green New Deal, has spoken often about how a climate package should fully fund the miners’ endangered pension plan. Presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has a plan that includes $15 billion for the Black Lung Disability Fund and a guaranteed five years of salary, health care and pension support for workers displaced by the move to renewable energy.

Several other contenders for the 2020 Democratic nomination proposed federal programs modeled on the GI Bill to help coal miners train for new lines of work.