Michael F. Bennet

09/12/2024 | Press release | Archived content

Bennet, Brown, Bicameral Colleagues Introduce Bill to Support Fossil Fuel Workers Amid Clean Energy Transition

Bennet, Brown, Bicameral Colleagues Introduce Bill to Support Fossil Fuel Workers Amid Clean Energy Transition

September 12, 2024

Washington, D.C. - Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet joined U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) alongside 20 of their Senate and House colleagues to reintroduce the American Energy Worker Opportunity Act. This bicameral legislation provides critical resources and training opportunities to assist and empower workers whose jobs are affected by the energy industry's move toward cleaner sources. U.S. Representative Greg Casar (D-Texas) introduced companion legislation in the House.

"Workers in Colorado and across our nation's energy communities have powered our economy for decades. As our country transitions to a 21st century, clean energy economy, we must ensure these workers are at the forefront of our approach" said Bennet."This legislation would provide critical wage replacement and health benefits to energy workers and invest in training and education programs to help them find new, good-paying jobs."

"We have a responsibility to protect our planet from the climate crisis - while also protecting America's fossil fuel workers from being left behind in the transition to a clean energy economy," said Casar."We don't have to choose between the planet and workers. We can do right by fossil fuel workers and their families, while also accelerating our fight against the climate crisis."

The American Energy Worker Opportunity Act would create a worker transition program with wage replacement or supplements, health care benefits, education and training funds, and an additional education benefit for children of laid-off workers.

Specifically, the legislation would:

  • Provide fossil fuel workers with a wage replacement or supplement in addition to assistance to maintain health benefits and contribute to retirement;

  • Provide worker education and training, up to and including a four-year degree;

  • Create educational grants for the children of dislocated fossil fuel workers; and

  • Require agencies to prioritize the hiring of fossil fuel workers into clean energy jobs when disbursing new energy grants.

"Union workers have always been at the heart of the energy production that's fueled this country, and must continue to be as we move towards a clean energy economy. That's why the AFL-CIO is fighting hard to ensure that fundamental labor rights and good union jobs are central to every clean energy project and facility across the country," said Liz Shuler, president, AFL-CIO."The American Energy Worker Opportunity Act would take important steps to make that vision a reality by delivering good pay, essential skills training, the right to organize, and a pathway into a good union job for energy workers. We look forward to continuing to work with our partners in Congress to address the climate crisis and secure good union jobs for all."

In addition to Bennet, Brown and Casar, U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and twelve members of the U.S. House of Representatives also sponsored the legislation.

This legislation is also endorsed by the AFL-CIO, BlueGreen Alliance, National Wildlife Foundation, Natural Resource Defense Council, United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), United Utility Workers of America (UWUA), Sierra Club, Texas AFL-CIO, and Texas Climate Jobs Project.

In May 2022, Bennet introducedthe National Energy Community Transition Act to support economic development and diversification in communities that have historically relied on fossil fuel-related power generation, production, or extraction and now face significant declines in tax revenue that sustain core public services, such as hospitals and schools. That bill and the bill released today would complement each other by supporting workers and their families, as well as their surrounding communities, in the transition away from fossil fuels towards new economic opportunities.

The text of the bill is available HERE.