WASHINGTON — A rift between environmentalists and labor, two pillars of the Democratic coalition, broke open acrimoniously Monday, when a group of big unions threatened to boycott an ambitious get-out-the-vote operation planned for the November election unless a wealthy opponent of climate change was barred from it.
Warning that organized labor risked being “infiltrated by financial and political interests that work in direct conflict” with their members, the presidents of seven building-trade unions demanded that the AFL-CIO cut its ties with Thomas Steyer, a San Francisco hedge fund manager who has spent millions promoting efforts to combat climate change.
