The Oregon AFLCIO has been debating Global warming for the past two years and has officially squashed the idea.
Resolution 17 was drawn up to support the Kyoto Treaty on global warming in 2005. The AFLCIO members held debates over the treaty and where as the body could not come to an agreement on the issue directed the problem to the E board. The AFLCIO felt that the treaty was in direct conflict with the union's position on global warming.
The Kyoto treaty is a commitment by developed nations to reduce green house gasses, such as carbon dioxide that are a main contributor to global warming. The US has, to the disappointment of leading countries on this issue, never signed the treaty, and continues to lag behind other nations of the world in reducing green house emissions. The USA continues to be one of the largest green house violators in the world, falling behind some smaller and less developed countries. The excuse the US is using for not signing the treaty is that the US felt that the treaty did not require other huge polluting nations like China and India for a commitment in their reduction of green house gasses.
The AFLCIO has rejected the treaty from the beginning because they felt that by ignoring developing nations it would cause an economic hardship for the economy of the US. The AFLCIO also stated that they supported balanced measures on reducing green house gases and supported measures to stop global warming. The AFLCIO opposes extreme measures that would undermine economic growth, and place the US at a disadvantage to other nations.

I understand that the AFLCIO does not want to lag behind in labor production jobs in the US that could be done in developing nations, Where has the AFLCIO been these last 30 plus years?  The developing nations have been sucking up our jobs and the unions have been shamefully lax in stopping a flood of outsourcing. While the unions have supported politicians that have openly discussed WTO, NAFTA GAT etc. They are afraid now to support the Kyoto treaty because they are afraid that the unions will lose jobs. Right now the AFLCIO will not show their support for any candidate running for President.

I would like to ask them why?   Dennis Kucinich Is the only candidate that wants to do away with WTO, GAT NAFFTA, the only candidate that supports labor in this country to the full extent. Make the US energy efficient.
I believe that the AFLCIO is missing the boat once again.

If the unions wanted to create high paying jobs here in this country they should be pushing hard for the re-tooling of our industries, updating and modifying energy usage by the manufacturing sectors of this country.   If the companies in this country would willing to update their facilities they could create jobs for decades for construction workers, they would save $$$$$ in energy costs. Their savings would be much greater than their cost in updating. The trickle down of money would reach every sector in this country, creating an economy that would continue to grow for decades.
I suggest that unions stop crying about what is not happening in developing nations, and focus on what they could be doing here in this country.

If the unions don't like the way this nation is handling business, I would suggest that they start acting like unions and strike.  They need to wake this country up. We all know how much wining and dining that the unions do in Washington DC and we all know what has happened to labor in this country. It is a Time for Action, it is time that the unions do something about global warming, it is about time to start thinking outside of the box.
                           
                                               TAMMY