Failure to Invest in Renewable Energy Cost Canada 66,000 New Jobs

According to a report published yesterday by Blue Green Canada, Canadians have lost out on roughly 66,000 new jobs because the nation's federal government has failed to pursue renewable energy investing.

 

The survey, entitled, Falling Behind: Canada's Lost Clean Energy Jobs, is the first analysis concerning the employment impact of Canada's failure to invest in renewable energy projects and was released yesterday at the Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference in Washington, DC. "Canada's federal government keeps saying it's matching U.S. efforts on energy and climate, but this is simply not true," said Gillian McEachern, Program Manager, Environmental Defence Canada. "Ottawa is obsessed with protecting oil from the tar sands instead of catching up to other countries in creating clean energy jobs." Significant findings in the report show that Canada committed less of its stimulus funds on clean energy than Mexico, the U.S., Australia, China, and South Korea; Canada's clean energy investment gap has reached $11.5 billion in comparison to the U.S.; and, if Canada's spending matched the U.S. investment in renewable energy alone, an additional 66,000 jobs would have been created. "America is concerned China is out-competing them in the new energy economy, but Canada isn't even keeping up with the U.S.," said Ken Delaney of United Steelworkers.

 

"Canadians who are unemployed or underemployed right now cannot afford Ottawa's failure to support the economy of tomorrow." Furthermore, the clean energy sector could potentially grow to become one of the world's largest industries within the next ten years, falling just behind electronics and automotive products. Blue Green Canada is petitioning the federal government to prevent Canada from lagging further behind by meeting or exceeding the U.S. renewable energy investment portfolio, establishing a price on carbon and creating provisions to support clean energy manufacturing throughout the nation. To learn more about Blue Green Canada's efforts and to download the full report, visit Blue Green Canada or Environmental Defence.