In the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, How to Minimize Harm to Displaced Workers

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 20 June 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When the Marathon oil refinery in Martinez closed in 2020, more than 300 unionized workers were laid off from jobs they thought they’d retire from. A study from UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education followed many of those workers and found roughly one in four were still out of work a year later, and most of those who had found new jobs took sizable pay cuts. As we make the necessary transition away from fossil fuels, Forum discusses what kind of jobs will be lost, and gained, in the green economy and what can be done to minimize harm to the workers whose jobs will be erased and to the communities who depend on their industries. Guests: Virginia Parks , professor at the Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy at the University of California, Irvine John Gioia, member, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors Tracy Scott, president, United Steelworkers Local 5 James Feldermann, former head operator, Marathon Martinez refinery Jessie Hammerling , co-director, The Green Economy Program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:55.5	The very from kQED i'm laura clivens in for alexis magical california has pledged to slash the use of fossil fuels in the coming decades. As we electrify our homes, vehicles, and the energy grid, we're moving away from fossil fuels.
1:00.8	For a whole slew of reasons, that's something to be celebrated. But for those who depend
1:05.7	on the fossil fuel industry for their livelihoods, who expected to retire from these jobs.
1:12.7	It's a more complicated story.
1:18.3	A study from UC Berkeley followed workers laid off from the Marathon Oil Refinery in Martinez in 2020, and many are still not all right.
1:22.1	How do we minimize harm to workers and the communities depending on the fossil fuel industry?
1:29.0	That's next after this news.
1:46.6	Welcome to Forum. I'm Laura Clivens in for Alexis Madrigal. California prides itself on leading the way in renewable energy.
1:53.5	State leaders are aiming to reduce oil consumption by 94% and become carbon neutral by 2045.
1:58.7	These drastic changes are needed to fight the existential threat of climate change. But they could also mean widespread worker displacement
2:02.0	as fossil fuel-based industries wither. In Martinez, when a marathon oil refinery closed in 2020,
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