Dec '08 - AFL-CIO NOW BLOG | Climate Change: Opportunity and Responsibility

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Vice President Ron Heintzman is among union delegates taking part in the 12-day United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNCCC) in Poznan, Poland. The meeting is building upon the framework negotiated last year in Bali, Indonesia. Of the nearly 100 union delegates, Heintzman is among the more than 20 from North America and sends us this report.

Prior to attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland, my knowledge and understanding of the subject was limited. Like many of our members, I could see and feel our climate changing, associating it with the frequently used term “global warming.” I quickly learned that climate change and global warming were not one in the same. I also had little understanding of how encompassing and important the issue is and how it impacts nearly every aspect of our daily lives, now and much more so in the future.
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For the transportation industry and the members we represent, increased mass transit is a key component in almost every plan for a “green environment and green economy.” We have a real opportunity, and I believe an obligation as a union, to promote our industry and educate our membership on how each of us must take individual responsibility by making changes in our day-to-day lives that help promote a sustainable green earth.

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