Jim Hoffa announced the union's withdrawal from the ANWR coalition, citing the need to build a green economy that fosters the development of alternative energy sources and creates good union jobs--instead of lining the pockets of big oil tycoons.

"Our economy is in shambles. Gas is climbing to $5 a gallon. The dollar has collapsed. Inflation is on the rise. Americans are seeing their paychecks shrink. Their family health care is being slashed," Hoffa said. "Finding a long-term solution has a tremendous upside. It will be environmentally friendly and will serve as a much-needed boost to our sagging economy."

Hoffa also thanked labor's partners in the environmental movement, who are currently working to reduce emissions from port trucks. He urged the strengthening of the alliance, known as the Coalition for Clean & Safe Ports, to achieve a common goal: Good jobs and clean air.

"If we are to prosper as a nation, our future lies in a green economy," he said. "But it's up to us to help define the rules of that new green economy. A green economy means we must reduce our dependence on foreign oil. And it means creating good union jobs in America's growing industries."

Hoffa Rejects 'Drilling Our Way Out' of Energy Crisis, Demands Long-Term Policy Solutions

This is the core of the Blue/Greeen alliance that will rebuild and remake a just America:

"A green economy means we must reduce our dependence on foreign oil. And it means creating good union jobs in America's growing industries."

Both.  

The Sierra Club praised the Teamsters for this move.

"The Sierra Club and the environmental movement applaud your announcement and look forward to building a powerful movement together--a movement that helps workers, protects the environment, prevents global warming and rebuilds our economy with good, green jobs," said Greg Haegele, The Sierra Club's Director of Conservation. "We are proud to stand here today, as allies and friends of the Teamsters."

Hoffa Rejects 'Drilling Our Way Out' of Energy Crisis, Demands Long-Term Policy Solutions

Hoffa and the Teamsters are joining with Al Gore and Barack Obama in working to build a Green economy and all realize that we cannot drill our way out of this mess.  We need alternative energy.

Barack Obama last week:  

"For decades, Al Gore has challenged the skeptics in Washington on climate change and awakened the conscience of a nation to the urgency of this threat. I strongly agree with Vice President Gore that we cannot drill our way to energy independence, but must fast-track investments in renewable sources of energy like solar power, wind power and advanced biofuels, and those are the investments I will make as President.  It's a strategy that will create millions of new jobs that pay well and cannot be outsourced, and one that will leave our children a world that is cleaner and safer."

Gore:  "end our reliance on carbon-based fuels"

Al Gore laast week:

We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change.

But if we grab hold of that common thread and pull it hard, all of these complex problems begin to unravel and we will find that we're holding the answer to all of them right in our hand.

The answer is to end our reliance on carbon-based fuels.

In my search for genuinely effective answers to the climate crisis, I have held a series of "solutions summits" with engineers, scientists, and CEOs. In those discussions, one thing has become abundantly clear: when you connect the dots, it turns out that the real solutions to the climate crisis are the very same measures needed to renew our economy and escape the trap of ever-rising energy prices. Moreover, they are also the very same solutions we need to guarantee our national security without having to go to war in the Persian Gulf.

What if we could use fuels that are not expensive, don't cause pollution and are abundantly available right here at home?

Gore:  "end our reliance on carbon-based fuels"

Jim Hoffa today:

"We are not going to drill our way out of the energy problems we are facing--not here and not in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," Hoffa told labor and environmental activists at an Oakland, Calif., summit on good jobs and clean air. "We must find a long-term approach that breaks our dependence on foreign oil by investing in the development of alternate energy sources like solar, wind and geothermal power."

Working together with labor, environmentalists and Democratic candidates, wer can change Ameirca and solve our energy crisis, rebuild a greeen economy with good union jobs, and address global warming.  

We need to work with the Teamsters and other unions to rebuild a Green America.  Thank you Mr. Hoffa and all Teamsters! Solidarity!