THE BLUE GREEN ALLIANCE IS AN ORGANIZATION WHOSE TIME HAS COME. With unemployment hitting a 26-year high of 10.2 percent (up from 9.8 in September) and Christina Romer, chairwoman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, proclaiming, “Having the unemployment rate reach double digits is a stark reminder of how much work remains to be done,” it is indeed time to get to work in novel ways that can bust us out of the torpor and downright moribund climate which surround us, and are dragging so many of us down.

Traditional methodologies and paradigms, and let’s throw in the $787 billion spending package, have thus far not done the trick—far, far from it (okay, the spending package has helped but it is not close to enough). Organizations like the Blue Green Alliance (BGA), on the other hand, are shuffling the deck and dealing new cards, even as they continue to establish credibility and put in place dependable means to get things done—”mission accomplished!” is not something they’ll probably shout anytime soon, but again they’re building that house with a canard-spouting chorus of naysayers over their shoulders, and these things take time—and there’s no time to lose.

Let’s take a closer look at this national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations (not the odd bedfellows they at first seem) dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy. Remember, in the words of Cicero, “Freedom is participation in power.” And freedom, as defined, should include the ability to find and maintain a livable wage in a healthy environment.

LET’S TURN THE CLOCK BACK THREE YEARS to imagine, if you will, that first fateful meeting (cue Twilight Zone theme) between the United Steelworkers and Sierra Club which would result in the Blue Green Alliance. What were they thinking? What did they share? Was there yelling, kicking and screaming? Were cute baby owls dipped in demonic smelting pots? I want to think it was more along the lines of, Hey, we all share this planet and its resources, and if there is no planet, there are no resources and there certainly won’t be any jobs—yep, it’s the classic David Browerism, “There is no business to be done on a dead planet.” The alliance also dovetails nicely into Van Jones‘ idea of a “Green Growth Alliance,” where he envisions (as he writes in The Green-Collar Economy) “a coalition that unites the best labor and business leaders, social justice activists, environmentalists, intellectuals, students, and more—all sharing the burdens and benefits, risks and rewards, of the the journey to a green-collar economy.”

So, unquestionably, there was common ground, and a powerful alliance was formed by these august organizations. After all, as Ethan Goffman underscores in the November/December issue of E Magazine, “Well before globalization, labor and environmentalists had reasons to work together. Concerns about environmental toxins harming workers and communities have been around for centuries, from miners suffering coal dust exposure, to communities and workers breathing lead- and arsenic-laced air from metal smelters, to children developing leukemia after drinking water that was contaminated by toxic tanneries.”

An organization like the Blue Green Alliance, then, has long been needed—and didn’t stop there; since 2006 they’ve grown to include the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)—add them up and you’ve got around eight million people. Let me say that again: eight million people—trying to make a difference.

Issues the alliance tackles include passing comprehensive clean energy and climate change legislation; restoring the rights of U.S. workers to organize and bargain collectively; establishing a trade policy that promotes global growth and prosperity with embedded enforceable labor, environmental and human rights standards; and enacting a toxic chemicals policy that protects both workers and communities. How about measures? The alliance, no slouch here, either, has advocated its recent global warming legislative principles, partnered with other advocacy groups and businesses to promote passage of state and federal legislation mandating renewable electricity production, and pushed for the Employee Free Choice Act (for the expansion of workers’ rights) and reauthorization of the Transportation Act (to create green jobs in freight and high-speed rail and other infrastructure projects).

The Blue Green Alliance Foundation, meanwhile, has been focusing on educating the public about the job-spawning potential of environmental investments. This includes an annual Good Jobs, Green Jobs national conference (more than 2,600 people attended this year’s event in Washington, D.C.); a Labor Climate Project in partnership with Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection; Blue Green Alliance state chapters working on climate change, workers’ rights, clean energy jobs, fair trade and green chemistry; and economic development programs in various cities and states.

Recent activity—to give you examples of the Blue Green Alliance in action—includes Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown joining the Blue Green Alliance in releasing clean energy manufacturing recommendations, which, according to the alliance, can help create hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs through development of a U.S. clean energy economy. “Renewable energy, and the green jobs that come along with it, are key to our economic growth,” Michael Langford, National President of the Utility Workers Union of America, is quoted in an alliance press release. “It is essential that in order to lead the world in renewable energy technologies, and create good jobs that support our families and communities, we must look at ways to rebuild and revitalize American manufacturing.” The alliance is also running a television commercial in Pennsylvania to thank Senator Arlen Specter for his vote to move clean energy legislation forward in the U.S. Senate.

There’s definitely positive movement and momentum afoot with organizations like the Blue Green Alliance leading the charge (see also Apollo Alliance and Green for All). Collaboration and the holistic view it engenders are key to clear perspective and synchronized action—yes, blue and green can coexist peacefully, but the peaceful part is going to have to follow a fair amount of strife and conflict up against those who just aren’t going to see it the same way, no matter how compelling the argument, be it scientific proof or continued poor economic numbers.

Here’s how Teamsters President James P. Hoffa sees it: “We have been forced to make a false choice in the past—good jobs or a clean environment. The pundits said that if we wanted clean air, the economy would suffer and jobs would be sent overseas. Well, look what happened—we let the big corporations pollute and the jobs went overseas anyway. But today is a new day.”

And let’s be thankful for that.

—Allen