THE CBI reports that Yorkshire is to be the hardest hit region outside London in the coming recession. We can't hide from it but a Green New Deal for Yorkshire and the Humber can bring sustainable jobs for the future.
The Green Party is calling on the Government and local authorities to invest in the development of renewable energy production and energy conservation.
In Kirklees a council initiative led by Green Party councillors and funded by the energy compa
nies is offering free home insulation to every household. This is creating new jobs, helping people save on their fuel bills as winter approaches, and reducing the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.
We need more of this innovative thinking with practical applications, and we need it now.
The Green New Deal calls on the Government to do three things. Regulate the banks, create new jobs in the growing 'green' sector and tax the energy company profits from rising energy prices. Gordon Brown argued against further regulation of the banks at the G20 meeting. Alistair Darling is talking about a New Deal, but has lost the green component which will ensure that it is sufficiently effective to make a lasting difference.
Effective
We must follow the lead of Barack Obama who has promised $150 billion to create five million "green collar" jobs in the USA.
We need quick and effective action in the region to reverse the effects of the financial crisis. The credit crunch was not caused by the negligence of the population of Yorkshire and the Humber and they should not be the ones to suffer.
They need jobs for the future, not sticking plasters applied to a failed economic system.
Dr Martin Hemingway, lead Green Party candidate Yorkshire and the Humber for the European Union Elections, Headingley, Leeds
The full article contains 308 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
