The Labor Center’s Green Economy Program provides research and technical assistance on the workforce strategies needed to grow an equitable clean energy economy. We examine economic and labor market changes related to the energy transition, and we assess policy approaches that can ensure access to quality jobs and an adequate supply of skilled workers. Our work supports policymakers, businesses, unions, and community stakeholders who are engaged in the design and implementation of high-road policies and projects.
March 13, 2025
Technical Assistance for a High-Road Economy
July 3, 2024
Green Economy Public Funding Trackers – National and California
January 14, 2025
Refining Transition: A Just Transition Economic Development Framework For Contra Costa County, California
March 25, 2024
Factsheet: Workforce Standards for an Equitable Economy
States can act to preserve and advance President Biden’s most important accomplishment: a set of policies aimed at growing jobs in strategic clean energy sectors across the U.S. while supporting fair wages and equal access to employment.
In this report, we discuss the challenges and opportunities facing Contra Costa as it prepares for the cascading effects of an energy transition that is already unfolding. We propose a just transition framework to guide an economic development strategy capable of addressing the specific challenges facing Contra Costa and setting the county on a path toward a more resilient, healthy, and equitable local economy.
The California Green Economy Public Funding Tracker provides information on open funding opportunities from California state agencies related to climate, clean energy, and the workforce. It includes programs supported or administered by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), California Energy Commission (CEC), California Climate Investments, Strategic Growth Council, California Workforce Development Board (CWDB), and more.
National and California-based funding trackers for green economy projects. The databases track notices of funding opportunities from various agencies and provides a description of the grants, application links, key dates, webinar dates, and other information.
California’s economy is growing, but millions of workers are being left behind. The state can do more to ensure every Californian has access to a family-sustaining career by incorporating workforce standards into public spending and regulations. This factsheet describes workforce standards and how policymakers can apply them in this critical moment for climate and infrastructure spending.
September 3, 2020
Putting California on the High Road: A Jobs and Climate Action Plan for 2030
April 13, 2021
High-Road Jobs and Climate Action: Lessons from California for the Nation
March 17, 2011
California Workforce Education & Training Needs Assessment for Energy Efficiency, Distributed Generation, and Demand Response
May 8, 2014
Workforce Issues and Energy Efficiency Programs: A Plan for California’s Utilities
As the state navigates the energy transition, it needs a clear and comprehensive plan to provide real support for refinery workers and communities affected by closures.
“I have a lot of concerns about what will happen to the workers at Valero if it shuts down, based on the experiences of workers at Marathon Martinez, and the fact that the permanent workforce at Valero is not represented by a union,” Hammerling says.
An unlikely alliance of labor and environmental-justice groups is working to ensure the region is prepared for a future without big oil.
Last month, officials with Valero Energy announced they would be closing the company’s 170,000 barrels-per-day oil refinery in Benicia, California—a city of 25,000 residents, east of San Francisco. The plant, spread across 900 acres, employs over 400 workers, and is scheduled to close in April 2026.
“We do not currently have the plans in place to ensure a just transition, but we have learned a lot over the last couple of years about and learned from workers and communities who’ve been affected by closure so far about what a transition can and should look like and how to actually make it happen,” said Jessie Hammerling.
Francisco Arzú
Co-Director, Green Economy Program
Jessie HF Hammerling
Co-Director, Green Economy Program
Will Toaspern
Senior Researcher
Carol Zabin
Senior Advisor on the Green Economy
