Climate Change and Jobs

Congratulations! The Senate has passed the Clean Energy Future legislation

The Senate, early in the afternoon on November 8, passed the Government's package to put a price on carbon pollution.

We welcome the package of measures as an important first step in laying the foundation for taking real action to tackle climate change.

The package provides:

Fair compensation for the majority of households meeting any costs associated with the introduction of the scheme;
Protection for jobs in trade exposed and emissions intensive industries; and
Promotion of investment in clean energy technology and innovation and the creation of new jobs.

We took the position that the greatest long-term threat to Australian workers was to ignore the climate science and refuse to act.

Clean Energy Future

Federal Treasury predicts the prices of electricity, gas and food will increase by about $9.90 a week when the carbon price begins. The Gillard government plans to meet these household costs through cutting income tax and increasing in welfare payments like the Family Tax Benefit and pensions. The household assistance will be permanent and the government will review the adequacy of assistance each year.

Go here to calculate impact on your household.

Some of the features of the compensation for households are:

Over four million households will be compensated by more than the expected average price impact.
Six million households will get assistance that covers the expected average price impact.
Eight million households will get some assistance.
The tax-free threshold will increase from $6,000 to $18,200. The threshold will be raised again in 2015 to $19,400.
People on incomes under $80,000 will receive a tax cut in July 2012 and another in July 2015.
There is additional support for 110,000 Australians who have high electricity bills because of medical equipment.
Before the carbon price is introduced, people will receive lump-sum payment in advance to help with bills. After this, pensions, allowances and family payments will increase by 1.7%.
Low-income households who need more assistance can apply for a $300 Low Income Supplement.

For more official government information about the carbon price package visit the Clean Energy Future website. It has lots of additional information, including fact sheets and videos like the one above.

A price on pollution

The introduction of a price on pollution is fundamental for Australia to shift to a low pollution economy. A strong price on carbon is needed to provide a price signal to underpin the commercial viability of low pollution, renewable energy and energy efficient technologies.

Unions welcomed the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee's pricing mechanism, beginning with a fixed price in 2012 and moving to a full-scale emissions trading scheme within three years. A price on pollution will help change the economic behaviour of Australia, which is the highest per capita producer of pollution in the world. The revenue will go towards supporting jobs and communities into the future.

Around the world, action is being taken to respond to the challenge of climate change by reducing pollution and promoting clean energy sources. Worldwide investment in clean energy totaled $US162 billion in 2009, but only $US1 billion of this was in Australia. By 2020, it is projected that clean energy will be one of the world’s largest industries, totalling as much as $US2.3 trillion.

Australia needs to take prompt and decisive action to remain competitive and benefit from the global clean energy economy.

Moving to a low pollution economy
Unions are determined that adjusting to a low pollution economy must focus on support for emission-intensive and trade-exposed industries, measures to protect existing jobs, programs to attract investment in clean energy and production, and assistance to low income households.

Some industries and regional economies will be impacted more acutely than others. It is imperative that these communities are assisted to successfully adapt their industries and build new ones to ensure decent living standards, job opportunities and services continue to thrive in these areas.

We must start identifying and prioritising the green skills development, knowledge and work needed for a low pollution economy.

Through their involvement in the climate change consultation mechanisms, unions will ensure that Australian workers have a say in how the nation responds to climate change.

New technologies, industries and investment
A price on pollution will require assistance to emissions intensive and trade exposed industries, but this assistance must be conditional and tied to investments in renewable and low carbon technologies. The ACTU called upon the government to develop policy and drive investment towards new and cleaner technologies, and new industries – to establish Australia as a global leader and to take advantage of economic opportunities.

Clean energy jobs
It is simply not true that the shift to a low pollution economy will result in job losses. Research commissioned by the ACTU and ACF demonstrates that Australia still has an unparalleled opportunity to create hundreds of thousands of ‘green collar’ jobs. Australia’s natural competitive advantage combined with our globally recognised skills and expertise can be harnessed to create real industry development and export opportunities.

Our 2010 joint report Creating Jobs – Cutting Pollution: The Roadmap for a Cleaner, Stronger Economy shows how, with the right policy drivers to cut pollution, an additional 770,000 jobs could be created across the Australian economy by 2030.

Check out our Clean Energy Jobs page for more details.

Southern Cross Climate Coalition
In 2008, the ACTU formed an alliance with the Climate Institute, Australian Conservation Foundation and Australian Council of Social Service. Known as the Southern Cross Climate Coalition, the alliance aims to advance a constructive and long-term agenda to unlock the substantial economic, social welfare and environmental opportunities that will emerge from Australia’s response to climate change.

Cancún Climate Change Conference, December 2010
Unions have secured protection of the rights of workers in the transition to a low-pollution economy in final negotiations at the United Nations climate change conference in Cancún. ACTU President Ged Kearney said inclusion of the interests of workers in the UN documents was a breakthrough that gave hope that action on climate change on a global level was progressing.

Downloads and Information

Clean Energy Future - Government website
Framework for an industry policy on climate change
Creating Jobs - Cutting Pollution: the roadmap for a cleaner, stronger economy
State of the Climate report (CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology)
Green Gold Rush report
Green New Deal Statement
Towards an effective and fair response to climate change
Australia’s National Strategy for Energy Efficiency
Joint statement on economic stimulus
ACTU Global Warming Policy

Comments

steve lawley at 4/03/2011 2:46:19 PM

I want action on climate change and I support a price on carbon. It's the vital step forward we need to really start taking advantage of new industries, new technologies and more importantly new jobs.

I've signed the petition!
Ian F at 4/03/2011 4:42:47 PM

The Libs are total clowns and are putting future Australians at risk with their utter garbage. It'll be the Libs that ruin our economy with short-sighted petty politics.
Kurt Ritson at 18/03/2011 3:32:45 PM

Do you support what is essentially going to be another gst.
Your Rights at Work at 15/07/2011 12:26:19 PM

You can keep the conversation going by signing up and joining the Climate Change & Jobs group.
Peter Perkins at 24/09/2011 6:04:17 AM

This is a farce, it proves the unions are solely for Labor and not the workers. A carbon (properly known as carbon dioxide) price will ruin Australia. The union has no mandate to support a carbon price and neither does the government. Climate change has been constantly happening throughout history and taxing carbon will do nothing to change that. Carbon is a naturally occurring gas, not a pollutant. Trees love it and change it to oxygen. Stop cutting down trees. That'll help the planet, a carbon price won't.
steve lawley at 27/09/2011 2:43:54 PM

The union has every mandate to be involved in this campaign. Anything that affects workers and their rights is union business.

You should know that during the night plants take up oxygen so I guess by your logic we should cut down the trees because they're stealing our oxygen. Oh and guess what if you have too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere not even the plants will be able to take it up anymore because they're getting saturated in it.

And maybe Peter you should do some research instead of just copying Tony Abbott's lines about carbon dioxide.
Peter Perkins at 27/09/2011 6:50:15 PM

Thank you for the cheap attempts to put words in my mouth ignoring my point and using self serving logic.You have offered nothing to disprove what I have said. I have not suggested cutting down trees, I suggested we stop. I have not suggested a problem with night plants creating carbon dioxide, I have already said it is a naturally occurring gas. Trees love it and change it to oxygen. Climate change has been constantly happening throughout history and pricing carbon will do nothing to change that. The carbon price campaign is a farce. And maybe steve you should properly read what is written and if you can't offer a genuine rebuttal to my points spare me the cheap tactics of a Tony Abbott association. You just said Tony Abbott in an attempt to somehow scare me off, you haven't actually offered anything to disprove what Tony has said.
Peter Anderson at 27/09/2011 8:05:28 PM

The real fact of Science is that CO2 cannot at all produce such warming as some few Politicknic are paranoid of. The issue thus is presented politically whilst 'the science' has never actually shown a 'climate danger', let alone a 'warming' danger, from CO2! Persistently has it been determined that within this atmosphere is CO2 unable to warm significantly more than 1degreeC whilst the IPCC has an upper limit of ~1.5degreeC for a 'direct' CO2 effect.
It is then a supposed 'advanced' effect where rorting and 'fraud' is so obviously been produced to satisfy a politically driven attitude. That the ACTU could support the political lie proposing a supposed anthropogenic effect and propose to sacrifice Worker's conditions whilst doing so should see personal agreements flourish for those workplace positions to remain available.
Yours, Peter K. Anderson
steve lawley at 28/09/2011 8:12:33 AM

Gee I wonder if Peter and Peter are the same people using fake identities.

But regardless. It's funny that Peter P attacks me for attacking them when they don't provide any information at all. Just baseless claims about 'the facts' and doesn't bother to read people's comments are get the facts - like trees take up oxygen at night time. Maybe Peter P would like to research that.

As for Peter A, you provide no links to information to support your claims. In fact neither Peter or Peter provide any information other than to make claims about 'the real fact' of 'Science'.

Why don't both of you read the information at http://www.skepticalscience.com/

Better still you could start by reading any of the links to information found on this page and you'll see your facts disappear in smoke. I'll even save you some time and link directly to the main argument page http://www.skepticalscience.com/argument.php - now you have no excuses and can get the 'real fact of Science'.
Peter Anderson at 28/09/2011 5:13:14 PM

You've not provided information but rant, Steve Lawley, and mentioning 'skepticalscience' site presents neither Science or skepticism. Photosynthesis requires CO2, not carbon, whilst the process of photosynthesis provides Atmospheric O2 and Carbon to incorporate into cellulose (as example).
You seem ill-informed Steve, the situation(s) in Europe presently aren't new and have been generally regarded for years. CO2 isn't carbon, doesn't behave as carbon and doesn't warm as does carbon (which is a particulate solid within the atmosphere).

Increase in CO2 produces, in fact, a kinetic cooling process that rapidly overrides any small warming CO2 can make for itself from Energy (delivered as Photons) that comes from other materials cooling. Something must actually cool for CO2 to warm Steve! The Energy available to CO2 is limited so.
The Nitrogen of the Atmosphere can warm only by contact conduction, physical contact this is, with a WARMER material with such being WATER (atmospheric and surface) or otherwise the land surface. Fact this is Steve, and so also for O2.
Atmospheric CO2 is more perhaps a poor 'warm 4th' behind Atmospheric Water, Nitrogen and then Oxygen. Only Water is potentially able to warm in interaction with those Photons CO2 releases. But realise, even whilst warming by contact conduction, do Atmospheric Nitrogen and Oxygen cool by the release of Photons that can escape the Atmosphere.
There can be no significant 're-warming' by CO2's interactions and its been already noted (in published Science) that the Energy escaping the Atmosphere (as Photons) is greater than 'warmist' models presume. Your hyperbole is olde, trite and of little worth Steve.

The entire political effort to support assumptions of ANTHROPOGENIC effects that simply aren't occurring in any observable manner struggles to ignore this Planet's actual behaviors.
The 'science' you'd present is old, attempts to treat atoms|molecules as solids (its that dated).
There never was 'missing warming' to even attribute to CO2 to begin with.
There are no real jobs to be 'made' from 'climate change' either, observable is this elsewhere already.
Yours, Peter K. Anderson