Carbon Cap Means Jobs in Western Pennsylvania

Ten miles south of Pittsburgh, along the banks of the Monongahela River, lies Braddock, a once vibrant steel town. But as the U.S. steel industry went, so went Braddock; the population dropped from a high of 20,000 to just 2,800 today.

Now Braddock hopes to become a thriving industrial center again through clean energy. In another example of the many grassroots campaigns around the nation to economically restructure around the principles and values of clean energy development, Braddock is partnering with environmental and labor groups to launch The Cap Solution.

The campaign,  sponsored by people who want to see Congress create jobs, protect the environment and put a cap on carbon emissions,. includes the Environmental Defense Action Fund, United Steelworkers and Blue Green Alliance. It comes in the weeks leading up to a global summit later this month in Pittsburgh of the leaders and finance ministers of the 20 largest economies. High on the summit agenda is considering limits on global warming gases and providing developing nations the means to accelerate the transition to the clean energy economy, which could significantly benefit industrial centers like Braddock. 

Braddock's supersized, down home, plain spoken Mayor John Fetterman is driving the town’s efforts. "A cap on carbon polliution will create jobs and prosperity for workers in America, starting in Braddock," he says.

“He’s trying to get green businesses to come to town, turn an old industrial site into a green jobs incubator and work with steelworkers to promote building wind turbines and other green technologies,” added the Environmental Defense Fund’s Keith Gaby.

Fetterman believes his town’s transformation will start with a cap on carbon pollution that will create increased demand for steel for windmills and thousands of other products his residents can make. “A carbon cap is the trigger for all these jobs; with that there will be investment in green energy. It becomes profitable,” Gaby says.

Find a list of companies that would see new demand for their products under a carbon cap at www.LessCarbonMoreJobs.org.

-- Suzanne Bopp