GREEN JOBS FOR A GREENER HUNTER - WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS ?

It was a great forum! There is a future for the City beyond the coalface.

Two of the speakers were Bill Mitchell Professor of Economics, and the Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE) at the University of Newcastle and Geoff Evans of the School of Environmental and Life Sciences in the Faculty of Science and Information Technology at the University of Newcastle

They talked about the recently published report, commissioned by Greenpeace, “A Just Transition to a Renewable Energy Economy in the Hunter Region”

A just transition from a coal economy could create thousands of new secure, well paid jobs in research, design, manufacturing, installation and maintenance.

The report was researched and modelled under stringent economic arguments and dispels the scare mongering that there are no employment options if there is no coal. Well I for one will be strongly advocating that the sooner we get on with accepting the inevitable demise of the coal industry the better position we will be in to capitalilise on a budding boom renewable industry.

Another inspiring speaker was Mark Fogarty a former director of the NSW Sustainable Energy Authority (SEDA) and currently a director of CBD Energy, a company that looks to implementing solar/thermal power in the Hunter. He talked of the need for certainty in policies and how they can drive change such as the feed in tariff in Germany He spoke of how progressive policy platforms can ensure security and investment. He effused of the great economic opportunity that is available as long as there is stability and longevity of policy. It was comforting to know that Greens policies can fit the bill.