From left to right): Lynn’s Ward 5 Councilor, Cardeliz Paez; Adam Kaszynski, President of the North Shore Labor Council; Jordan Rogers, the Northshore Labor Council Organizer; Ibrahim López-Hernández, board member of SAFE; Bonnie Bain, the Executive Director of SAFE; Yuri Sanchez-Rijo, Lynn Chapter Organizer of Neighbor2Neighbor MA; Beth Kontos, Vice President of Northshore Labor Council Organizer; Carlos Avila, the Community Engagement Director of the Environmental League of MA Action Fund; Sam Lambert, Deputy Chapter Director of Sierra Club MA; and John Dunderdale, Business Manager of Pile Drivers Local 56
On Tuesday, August 11, Salem Alliance for the Environment (SAFE) and the North Shore Labor Council organized an Energy Justice and Offshore Wind event at the Lynn Music Foundation. The event was co-sponsored by the North Shore Juneteenth Association Inc., Neighbor 2 Neighbor, Latino Support Network (LSN), and the New Lynn Coalition.
First, SAFE Executive Director Bonnie Bain opened the conversation, stating “This isn’t just a Salem issue, we need everybody to build a more sustainable region.” Next, Yuri Sanchez-Rijo, Lynn Chapter Organizer of Neighbor 2 Neighbor MA, and Sam Lambert, Deputy Chapter Director of Sierra Club MA spoke to the benefits of MassSave, an energy efficiency program, and answered questions about how to use MassSave Services. They also called upon participants to contact their house legislators about removing a proposed billion-dollar cut from MassSave. Find more info here, and contact your local representative about H. 5151.
Ibrahim López-Hernández, a Board Member of SAFE, discussed municipal aggregation, which is when a city or town purchases energy from a supplier directly to meet energy demands, typically at discounted rates when compared to direct purchases from National Grid or other energy companies. These reduced costs often result in savings for consumers.
Ward 5 Councilor Cardeliz Paez, and Rey Rodriguez of the Latino Support Network, talked about the climate resiliency initiatives happening in Lynn. Councilor Cardeliz talked about her recent push for municipal aggregation and a climate roadmap project developing in Lynn. Soon after, Rey shed light on the LSN’s focus – building affordable housing, and advancing climate resiliency through a high heat initiative.
Carlos Avila, the Community Engagement Director of the Environmental League of Massachusetts (ELM), discussed challenges that offshore wind faces, which includes misinformation campaigns, political barriers such as President Trump’s cancellation of Offshore Wind Leases, and the fear of the unknown.
Following Carlos’s discussion, John Dunderdale, Business Manager of Pile Drivers Local 56, led an energetic discussion about the importance of the wind industry for union labor, explaining the training process, providing anecdotes about what workers can gain from offshore wind, dispelling the myth that offshore wind raises energy costs, and answering questions.
Finally, Adam Kaszynski, President of the North Shore Labor Council, concluded the presentation period of the event with a strong call to action. While oil and gas companies made over $90 billion following the conflict with Iran, the Trump Administration paid foreign energy companies over $4 billion to shift from offshore wind energy to fossil fuels. Kaszynski also talked about how sea level rise threatens Lynn’s low-lying General Electric factory, which is the largest union employer in Lynn, before finishing with a final statement.
“In closing, America’s energy future shouldn’t belong to the oil executives and large corporations, it should belong to the workers who build it”
Thank you for reading. To view the entire event, watch this YouTube video from SAFE!