Watch: Markey, labor leaders, workers slam clean energy investment cuts
Markey joined by labor leaders, workers in Dorchester at IBEW Local 103
Boston (June 6, 2025) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the Environment and Public Works Committee, today hosted a press conference at IBEW Local 103 with labor union leaders and workers to highlight how Congressional Republicans’ proposed budget reconciliation cuts to climate and clean energy investments from the Inflation Reduction Act would hurt workers in Massachusetts.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the House-passed Republican bill would cut more than $500 billion in investments for environment, energy, and climate, which could lead to 830,000 jobs lost by 2030 and shrink the national economy by $1.1 trillion over the next decade.
“In Massachusetts, we have over 115,000 workers in the clean energy sector. Thousands of union jobs will be at risk. Trump and Republicans are selling out the livelihoods of working people and the future of our children, all to pay for tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. The Trump agenda is clear: steal from the workers to give to the wealthy. But if Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans think that union workers are going to roll over as their jobs, families, and livelihoods are threatened—they have another thing coming,” said Senator Markey. “Together, we are going to make clear how Republicans are hurting people in their own states; slow and stop this bill—defending our jobs, our future, and our way of life; and put Republicans on the record. The fight ahead of us is hard, but the harder the fight, the more important it is that we take it on. We fight until we win. For every worker. For every American. For a livable future.”
“We need more energy, and we need more jobs in Massachusetts, plain and simple. Working families shouldn’t have to purchase energy from billionaire oil tycoons and foreign governments or let them set the price of our energy bills. We can generate massive amounts of energy right here in Massachusetts and we can create thousands of union jobs for Massachusetts residents while we do it. Over the last few years, thousands of our neighbors and our friends have been put to work on electric grid upgrades, battery storage facilities, and manufacturing plants. They’re building our clean energy future and we’re all benefiting: the family that these workers support, the homes, the schools, the businesses that need a reliable supply of energy, and every one of us that will live on a cleaner, safer planet because of it.” said Chrissy Lynch, President, Massachusetts AFL-CIO.
“Repealing clean energy tax credits is a union job killer. These tax credits help level the playing field, they drive investment, and they put IBW electricians, laborers, ironworkers, and pipe fitters to work building America’s energy future. If you take those tax credits away, you’re not just pulling funding: you’re pulling paychecks from working families, you’re pulling apprentices out of training facilities, you’re pulling opportunity straight out of our communities. Every solar panel installed, every wind turbine wired, every EV charger connected, that’s a job with wages, healthcare, and a pension that stands for dignity for the American worker. You don’t kill that kind of progress: you build on it.” said Lou Antonellis, Business Manager/Financial Secretary, IBEW Local 103.
“Hundreds of thousands of lives will be affected if these tax credits are repealed. Our members are the ones out here in the freezing cold and the blazing heat; laying foundations, wiring schools, setting steel, climbing wind turbines, and putting up solar panels. I’m here today representing those skilled union workers who build the schools our kids learn in, the bridges we drive on, and because of smart, clean energy investments, the solar and wind farms that will power our future. With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, we saw national investment in clean energy that wasn’t about corporate tax breaks. It was about people. It meant workers having access to construction projects that benefit communities and families and taking part in building a clean economy. But now the Republican Reconciliation package threatens to undo all of that. said Chaton Green, Business Agent, Greater Boston Building Trades Union.
“We need long-term, sustained investment in renewable energy to ensure this work continues well beyond the current round of offshore wind projects. Major solar and hydroelectric projects must also move forward to deliver clean power to our communities and meaningful, local jobs to our members. These are more than just jobs—they’re life-changing careers, especially for people who have historically been left out of economic opportunity. This is exactly the kind of progress we need to protect and expand for the future,”said Andy Benedetto, Business Representative, Local 1121 Millwrights.
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