Power Lines: Building a Labor—Climate Justice Movement

The essential anthology on the most effective ways to organize a labor movement for environmental justice, from leading organizers in the field

The corporate elite have long pitted climate and labor movements against each other through a “jobs vs. the environment” narrative that maximizes profits. But over the last few years, labor unions and climate organizers have been pushing back against this framework and organizing for a real just transition.

Featuring contributions from key organizers in climate justice and labor, Power Lines tackles the most pressing questions facing those who are trying to build a movement for economic and environmental justice. The collection provides practical organizing models and strategies as well as inspiration for the possibility of making change on climate.

Power Lines moves beyond an analysis of the class politics of climate change or the strategic imperative of federal climate legislation, making the case for the urgency of a robust labor–climate justice movement. It also shows us how we can build that movement by sharing some of the most creative and effective organizing happening on the ground right now.

Jerr Ordower is the North America director of 350.org. Prior to joining 350, he was a co-founder of the Green Workers Alliance. The co-editor (with Lindsay Zafir) of Power Lines (The New Press), he lives in Philadelphia.

Lindsay Zafir is a distinguished lecturer at City College of New York and the academic director of Leadership for Democracy and Social Justice. She is the former editor of The Forge: Organizing Strategy and Practice. The co-author (with Jeff Ordower) of Power Lines (The New Press), she lives in New York City.