Thank you to all those who attended any of our four 2012 Good Jobs, Green Jobs Regional conferences along with all of our sponsors (South, West, East, and Midwest), conveners, presenters and volunteers. We could not have put on these four amazing conferences without your support.

We hope you'll join us next April when we return to Washington, D.C. for the Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference Aptril 16-18!

After a morning of speeches from people like Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa, Allison Chin from the Sierra Club and Los Angeles Mayor Anotonio Villargosa about the importance of ensuring America has good, green jobs, Good Jobs, Green Jobs West conference attendees were given an opportunity put those words into action by taking part in the Blue-Green Rally for Zero Waste & Responsible Recycling. This rally — which was organized by the Teamsters and Don’t Waste LA — took place outside of American Reclamation, a recycling center where workers are organizing for fair working conditions.

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The U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce -- an organization created to promote sustainability and responsibility -- held a workshop on day two of the Good Jobs, Green Jobs West Conference, focusing on how businesses are making the economy more sustainable. Groups, including Hewlett-Packard, the America Sustainable Business Council, The Future 500, and TapIt discussed how activists can partner with businesses to drive change, and their own efforts to be responsible corporations. 

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Chris Librie of HP spoke about the company's sustainability efforts, and he cited David Packard, who said in 1947 that the company has to be about more than profits. "We have to drive efficiency in everything we do," said Librie. "We need to get this message to companies so they see there's a commercial advantage to them." 

The first day of the Good Jobs, Green Jobs West Conference was full of memorable moments. Speakers including Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa, Teamster National President Hoffa, BlueGreen Apollo Alliance Chair Angelides, Tarryl Clark, the National Co-Chair of the BlueGreen Alliance's Jobs21! initiative and a plenary panel took place in the morning.

The afternoon featured Tom Steyer from Californians for Clean Energy and Jobs and a plenary panel sustainable cities.

Day two was also truly exciting. In the morning, the plenary session Congressman Xavier Becerra of California pumped up the crowd and a plenary panel focused on building blue-green relationships featured speakers from the labor and environmental communities who shared how they overcame challenges and helped build better communities through mutual respect and cooperation