Bob's Report

Renewables are Good for the Economy

Whenever politicians of both major parties comment on reducing our GHG emissions they inevitably warn that job losses in the polluting industries would occur if we plan for deep cuts in our emissions. Have they considered the thousands of tourist industry jobs that would be lost if our emission reduction target allows temperatures to increase above 2° C and the Great Barrier Reef is destroyed ?

The Trade Union movement, whose primary concern is the welfare of workers, does not believe that lowering our emissions and increasing our reliance on renewables poses a threat to employment. Quite the contrary. In a media release (30/10/08) publicising the results of a report jointly commissioned by the ACTU and the ACF, The Green Gold Rush: How ambitious environmental policy can make Australia a leader in the global race for green jobs, ACTU president Sharon Burrow says that “…government policy settings and private investment are needed immediately to reach a target of nearly a million green jobs by 2030” and “By establishing a strong domestic market in these sectors, Australia will also develop the skills and expertise necessary to compete in the international green energy market which is currently worth $US 1.4 trillion.” (For the full report go to www.actu.asn.au/climatechange)

Similar conclusions regarding employment have been published locally. Newcastle University’s Centre of Full Employment and Equity issued a report, A Just Transition to a Renewable Energy Economy in the Hunter in June 2008. It demonstrated that major benefits would follow a shift from coal-fired power generation to a renewable energy economy, including “the creation of thousands of new secure, well-paid jobs in the research, design, manufacture, installation, maintenance, and export of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.” Net job increases of between 3,900 and 10,700 were estimated.

This result is not surprising. The renewable industry is very labour intensive, while the fossil fuel industry has been shedding jobs. According to The World Watch Institute US coal production over the last two decades has increased by one third, but employment has been halved.

LMCA Activities

LMCA vice president Gordon Pears attended the Sky Channel information session presented by the Federal Department of Climate Change at Newcastle Panthers on February 26th . Gordon was impressed by the articulate explanation of the government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme given by the Department’s Deputy Secretary, Blair Conway, but his explanations were limited to the processes to be used to implement the Department’s ETS. He could not critically examine the policies themselves.