Environment Jobs A-Plenty if Council Went Green?

If Lancaster City Council insulated buildings and fitted green energy in the Lancaster area, it could create 64 jobs as well as slashing climate-changing emissions, according to independent research released by North Lancashire Friends of the Earth recently.

The research - by social enterprise and environment experts Carbon Descent - was published to launch a new nationwide campaign calling for local councils take urgent action to cut CO2.

Friends of the Earth's campaign - Get Serious About CO2 - is calling on councils to commit to cutting carbon dioxide emissions in their local area by at least 40 per cent by 2020 and produce an action plan detailing how they will make the cuts.

The new research analyses the manpower required to insulate homes and businesses and install green energy on buildings - which are two of the key ways in which councils could achieve a reduction in their emissions at least 40 per cent by 2020.

New jobs could be available as loft insulaters, architects, plumbers, builders, electricians, plasterers and insulation specialists - with new admin, transit and warehouse positions also created to support the installation of insulation and renewable energy.

The council has a big say over local energy, housing and transport. But at the moment, Lancaster City Council doesn't have an integrated plan that addresses how to reduce carbon emissions by at least 40% by 2020. This is a time period of just over 10 years and we need to start now if we are going to achieve this target.

The latest science tells us that rich countries like the UK have to cut their emissions by at least 40 per cent by 2020. Otherwise, climate change will make a billion of the poorest people in the world homeless - and people in the UK will be affected too by increased flooding and droughts, rising food prices and economic instability.

"With the economy in such a sorry state at the moment, the Lancaster area could really use the boost from 64 new local jobs insulating homes and installing renewable energy," argues Paul Martyn from North Lancashire Friends of the Earth.

"If Lancaster City Council fully insulated buildings and fitted them with green energy, it would create jobs, slash the areas carbon dioxide emissions, reduce people's fuel bills and make homes much more snug."