Article by That Green Union Guy; image created by David Solnit, March 11, 2026

Here are some not entirely comprehensive, not particularly ideally organized thoughts on energy transition, climate change, decarbonization, and just transition in California for March 2026.

I. Refinery Closures:

1. Another refinery in California (in the Bay Area, specifically), is closing. The aforementioned is the Valero refinery in Benicia (across Carquinez Strait from Martinez). Here is a link to the article in the Guardian.
2. Another refinery in Southern California (Phillips 66) is closing
3. There are discussions of just transition for the workers and communities, but political support for these from the State of California is spotty at best;
4. The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) is doing everything they can to blame environmentalists, community activists, and delay the inevitable (and trying to pit workers—whom they actually care little about, except where they can be used as political pawns or tools—against the former);
5. WSPA and the corporations are engaging in a mass PR blitz to push their false narrative, including sponsoring poster boards strategically placed at gas pumps at practically every gas station in CA, as well as a blitz of advertisements on TV and digital platforms;
6. There are studies, such as this one conducted at Stanford University) that debunk the claims, but challenging the aforementioned well-funded PR blitz is an uphill battle.

II. Polluter Pays

1. There is a grassroots mobilization, and an ongoing campaign, to try an pressure the California government to enact a “polluter pays” measure (one that would charge extractive corporations, such as those represented by WSPA, excess profits taxes and other fees) that would include funds for just transition;
2. This is part of a growing, nationwide effort;
3. This has enormous potential to draw in the vast support for the “No Kings” / resistance to MAGA fascism and authoritarianism, as described here.

By the IWW Eco Union Caucus - IWW Eco Union Caucus, November 10, 2025

As delegations of numerous State representatives gather in Belém, Brazil, for the Thirtieth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), known as COP30, the Industrial Workers of the World Environmental Union Caucus (IWW EUC) would like to pause and reflect on this critical moment. After three decades of annual meetings, the COP and UNFCCC have utterly failed in their objective of reducing the grave risks posed by global warming to humanity and the rest of nature. Such failures are clear: carbon-dioxide emissions are now at an all-time high, and 2023, 2024, and 2025 have been the hottest on record… so far.

Ahead of the COP30 meeting, UN Secretary General António Guterres conceded that the world has officially missed the +1.5°C target in increased average global temperatures (relative to pre-industrial levels) that the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement had identified as the goal for controlling global warming.

The Trump regime—in line with its atrocious authorization of oil and gas extraction in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, gutting of the Environmental Protection Agency, mandating the violation of the Endangered Species Act via the clear-cutting of vast old-growth forests, withdrawing yet again from the Paris Agreement, resurrecting coal energy, and wrecking numerous renewable-energy projects—isn’t even bothering to send a delegation to COP30, although it still remains a COP member.

In parallel to the climate-denialist U.S. government and armies of fossil-fuel lobbyists that have stymied action to curb global warming for three decades, petro-despotic States like Russia and such OPEC members as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will presumably continue to block any and all international agreements that might mandate meaningful reductions in worldwide carbon emissions at COP30, even without the U.S. officially present.

The IWW EUC emphasizes that the entire COP process is a farce, and that capitalism—together with all other authoritarian economic and governmental systems—must be dismantled to protect humanity and planet Earth against the climate and environmental crises. This is so, given that capitalism mandates the subordination of the working classes to the whims of the managers and owners, who are committed above all to maximizing profit and increasing market share, even and especially when their directives degrade and destroy the environment and the possibility of a livable future. (Consider the classic example of the oil executive who imperils the health and safety of his offspring by ordering the expansion of fossil-fuel production.) As a caucus, we assert that only a post-capitalist future based on ecologically sustainable worker- and community-controlled alternatives will allow for real mitigation of global warming and restoration of ecological balance.

We applaud the front-line community-led non-governmental organizations (NGO’s), Indigenous groups, unions, and nation-States that demand accountability from COP member states, especially those of the Global North. That being said, we certainly do challenge the mistreatment of workers, front-line communities, and Indigenous peoples at the hands of all States, whether they be more or less powerful.

Collectively, we support the statement and call to action in “Weaving Paths from Colonial Apocalypse to Ecological Revolution.”

Lastly: Abolish wage slavery, and live in harmony with the Earth!

By That Green Union Guy - IWW Eco Union Caucus, July 27, 2025

As the crises unfolding from Felonious Trump’s lawless coup continue, and the apparent inability by what’s left of the American putatively constitutional government to stop it grow increasingly odious, desperation among the people seems to be festering. This includes growing calls for a “general strike” on various social media platforms.

What is a general strike? Well, it’s what happens when all workers in a specific industry or geographical location cease work simultaneously, thus bringing business as usual to a halt. Such activity can be used with great effect to beat back growing oppressive conditions, brought on by the bosses or by governments. There is a rich history of such strikes throughout history.

The idea predates the IWW, but it was the Industrial Workers of the World, or “Wobblies” as they’re affectionately still known, that was one of the revolutionary unions who made it a central focus of their strategy. Both William “Big Bill” Haywood and Ralph Chaplin devised detailed descriptions of how this might work in practice. Chaplin, by the way, is the individual who wrote the lyrics to organized labor’s most famous anthem, Solidarity Forever (which essentially explains the concept of the “general strike” through its lyrics); he also conceived of the IWW’s mascot: the black cat.

Careful examination of these texts will reveal that a crucial ingredient of any successful general strike is organization, meaning that such actions do not materialize out of nothing. Unfortunately, this point seems lost on far too many people. That is why, like clockwork, anonymously wheatpasted posters calling for a “General Strike!” frequently appear all over financial districts and countercultural enclaves the last week in April each year, but such strikes unfold.

With apologies to “Boromir”, from Lord of the Rings, one cannot simply speak a General Strike into existence. They must be organized. Workers, particularly those not represented by a union—and that amounts to more than 87% of American wage earners—face enormous risks for taking collective action at all, let alone something as forceful as a strike. That doesn’t mean workers not formally represented by a union cannot strike. In fact, they can, and what’s more, such activity is protected under labor law if the workers are employed in the private sector (in the case of the public sector, certain transportation workers, or farm workers, it’s a bit more complicated). Even if workers aren’t legally allowed to strike, if enough defy the laws, as would be the case in most general strikes, but even without formal representation, the aforementioned workers would still need to coordinate with each other, have support and mutual aid networks in place, and coordinate with grassroots community organizations. Otherwise, these workers would be sitting ducks, and likely all get fired.

By That Green Union Guy - IWW Eco Union Caucus, July 30, 2025

The Contra Costa Refinery Transition Partnership (CCRTP) includes United Steelworkers District 12, United Steelworkers Local 5, the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, UA Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 342, and the Contra Costa Central Labor Council, with support from the United Steelworkers International Union, the California Federation of Labor Unions, UC Berkeley Labor Center, and the BlueGreen Alliance Foundation. It is the culmination of several decades of organizing effort jointly conducted by many of these organizations, dating back to the mid 1990s (for some background, see the introduction and first chapter from the anthology, Power Lines: Building a Labor-Climate Justice Movement.

The roadmap offers 31 practical and specific recommendations on how to provide a managed decline of the remaining four oil refineries in the Bay Area (three in Contra Costa County, specifically Martinez, Rodeo, and Richmond; and one in Solano County, specifically Benicia.)

These include both environmental justice demands, many of which include community input on refinery conversions as well as reparations for impacted communities. Simultaneously, the roadmap includes numerous demands union workers might make in contract negotiations, including provisions for making workers adversely affected by refinery transitions “whole”, including everything from early retirement without penalty, to right of transfer to other still operating facilities by the company, to paid retraining, with seniority rights being a determining factor in who gets first dibs. Indeed, this document reads as a joint contract negotiated by the workers and the community that can serve as a model for similar cases globally.

The Bay Area IWW invites everyone to join us in honoring Judi Bari Day (May 24th) to honor our late comrade and fellow worker Judi Bari. Judi Bari was a revolutionary ecologist active in Earth First! and a member of the IWW, her story is detailed here, here, and here.

Marking the Moment: 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM, May 24, 2025 - Gather near Oakland High School on Park Blvd near East 34th Street in Oakland;

IWW Social: 4:00 - 7:00 PM - Gather at the Bay Area IWW Union Hall (Grassroots House), 2022 Blake Street at Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley for a social (food & beverages will be provided), a showing of the documentary, "Who Bombed Judi Bari?" and a (brief) discussion about Judi Bari's green unionism, revolutionary ecology, and their relevance to current organizing campaigns.

By Cone Cat and Steve Ongerth - It's Going Down, July 24, 2024

On this episode of the It’s Going Down podcast, we speak with Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) organizer and historian Steve Ongerth, author of Redwood Uprising: From One Big Union to Earth First! and the Bombing of Judi Bari, about the Earth First! and IWW organizer Judi Bari, who in May of 1990, was almost assassinated in Oakland, CA. Many believe that Bari and another Earth First! organizer, Darryl Cherney, were directly targeted for their organizing in defense of redwood forests in northern California, work that included building alliances with timber workers.

By x344543 - IWW Eco Union Caucus, June 6, 2024

I. May 24 (Judi Bari Day).

A. History - On May 24, 1990, Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney (both members of the IWW and Earth First!) were the victims of an assassination attempt when a bomb, planted in Bari’s automobile exploded while they were driving through Oakland. The Oakland Police and FBI claimed that the bomb was theirs (Bari’s and Cherney’s), and that the two were knowingly transporting it for the purpose of engaging in “an act of ecoterrirism”. This was, of course, completely false, and the two would later be exonerated, and would win a $4 million+ lawsuit in 2002 against both agencies for violating their civil rights (though Bari had passed away in 1997 due to cancer). The City of Oakland would later declare May 24 as “Judi Bari Day” (but doesn’t do anything to mark the day).

B. Background - for a detailed history of our late Fellow Worker, the following sources provide useful information:

• https://ecology.iww.org/term/JudiBari
• https://judibari.info/
• https://judibari.org/
• https://youtu.be/HWApxvSjMKY?si=iGPkG5Zfa1aYMhMY

C. WISERA IWW Convention - At the invitation of the WISERA Environmental Committee, I gave a presentation on Judi Bari’s IWW organizing. It was a bit scattered at first, but ultimately well received. It was recorded, but I don’t have a copy of the video yet, so I can’t share it, but I will once it’s made available.

D. Memory Against Forgetting - Long time Bay Area Earth First!er, Karen Pickett, was interviewed by the Green and Red Podcast, and she gave an excellent overview of Judi Bari’s Earth First! / IWW organizing. It’s well worth a listen: Memory Against Forgetting: The Story of Judi Bari w/ Earth First!er Karen Pickett https://greenandredpodcast.org/2024/05/22/memory-against-forgetting-the-story-of-judi-bari-w-earth-firster-karen-pickett/

E. Marking the Moment - I attended the annual “Marking the Moment” Judi Bari Day event, where her comrades gather to keep her organizing and wisdom alive. I was the sole (currently active) dues paying IWW member present, though there were some other former members there. I was able to provide some of the IWW contextual history, which was well received (by a crowd of approximately 20).

F. It’s Going Down Podcast - There is a possibility that IGD will interview me about Judi Bari, but details are still being worked out. I will let you know more if and when it happens.

By x344543 - IWW Eco Union Caucus, May 20, 2024

This report, unfortunately, does not cover the numerous and growing student occupations of university campuses in support of Palestine (or the support from unions and strike votes by unionized campus workers), because they’re simply too many to comprehensively mention here, but these are not unrelated to green unionism. A detailed report may be forthcoming in the future. Watch this space for more details.

World Resources Institute (WRI) Just Transition Framework:

1. World Resources Institute has produced a very thorough and well written article on just transition for refinery workers: In a Clean Energy Future, What Happens to California’s Thousands of Oil Refinery Workers? - https://www.wri.org/insights/ca-oil-refineries-just-transition
2. They recently presented their findings at a recent meeting of the Richmond Refinery Transition Working Group and announced their intent to conduct ongoing research with the intent of developing a set of policy recommendations for the state, for affected unions, communities, and environmental organizations;
3. Their recommendations will incorporate previous studies by the UC Labor Center (including Putting California on the High Road: a Jobs and Climate Action Plan for 2030 - https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/putting-california-on-the-high-road-a-jobs-and-climate-action-plan-for-2030/ and Fossil fuel layoff: The economic and employment effects of a refinery closure on workers in the Bay Area - https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/fossil-fuel-layoff/), PERI (including especially the California Climate Jobs Plan, aka “The Pollin Report” - https://www.californiaclimatejobsplan.com/), and Labor Network for Sustainability - https://www.labor4sustainability.org/)