The French didn’t corner the market on decent ideas. In Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer is building clean manufacturing from the ground up. In Washington, Jay Inslee pulled together a state-level climate alliance when the feds walked away—not because it was easy, but because it was necessary.
This isn’t theory. It’s rent. It’s breath.
At a Hardee’s in Appalachia, I met Matt Harper, a coal electrician on disability who still keeps his toolbelt in the truck. “Y’all want to build solar? Fine,” he said. “Just don’t build it in California with Chinese steel and tell me to learn to code.”
He wasn’t bitter. He just didn’t trust the pitch.
Matt doesn’t hate clean energy. He just doesn’t believe the people pushing it will still be around when the grant runs out. That’s not denial. That’s memory.
“That’s what a just transition is supposed to fix—if anyone bothers to explain it.”
And across the country, people are proving you don’t have to choose.
The job Tanya landed. The co-op Carmen runs. The turbine Jacob climbs. The panels Lena installs.
And now—maybe—Hector.
Last week, he got a call about a warehouse job. Retrofitting heat pumps. Union. Twenty-seven bucks an hour. Health benefits.
When he heard “union,” he flinched—like it might vanish if he moved too fast.
“I just want to work without getting screwed,” he said.
He looked at the rosary, thumbed it once. The A/C clicked on with that same faint tick, but this time it held.
Then he reached for the gearshift.
“If this is that?” he said. “Then yeah. I’m in.”
Not a platform. A pattern.
Taking shape. Mile by mile. Job by job. In the places too many forgot to count.
Bibliography
1. Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria. “Recognizing the Importance of a Just Transition.” Congressional Record, U.S. House of Representatives, March 2023. https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record.
2. Walz, Tim. Minnesota’s Climate Action Framework: Jobs, Justice, and Clean Energy. Minnesota Office of the Governor, September 2022. https://mn.gov/governor/news/framework.