Grow Jobs by Ending Coal

The Latrobe Valley in Victoria is currently partly dependent on coal for its economy, but if it is to survive into the future, it must move away from coal and tap into the renewable energy revolution. For this to happen the first power stations to be switched off should be the dirtiest, at Hazelwood and Morwell.

“The future for the Latrobe Valley lies in manufacturing of renewable energy components, not coal, and what’s missing is State and Federal Government commitment to this essential transition”, Mark Ogge, campaigner for Beyond Zero Emissions said. 

“The world’s top climate scientists, such as Prof. David Karoly and Dr James Hansen have made it clear that shifting our electricity sector to zero emissions technologies is an urgent priority. To keep burning coal is to lock in failure on climate change and to lock in worsening bushfires, droughts, heatwaves and storms”, Mr Ogge said.

“The Latrobe Valley, due to its existing infrastructure and skills base, is an ideal manufacturing hub for wind turbines, solar thermal mirrors and solar hot water systems. Demand for these items will skyrocket as governments around the world start to act on the climate crisis and begin to implement technologies to rapidly reduce emissions.”

A 2008 University of Newcastle study found that a transition to renewable energy in the Hunter Valley in NSW would create far more jobs than would be lost in coal-based industries. They estimated that there would be a net gain of between 3,900 and 10,700 jobs. The result could be similar in the Latrobe Valley.

“The manufacturing option for the Latrobe Valley is a far better one than hitching its wagon to carbon capture and storage (clean coal) technologies, which don’t exist” Mr Ogge warned. “Not a single light bulb anywhere on Earth is lit by clean coal electricity. It may never exist and even if the most positive predictions come true, and carbon capture and storage is commercialised in a few decades, it will be too late to prevent catastrophic climate change and is predicted to be more expensive than renewable energy. The Federal Government’s $2.4 billion to supporting this non-existent technology in their CCS Flagship Program is an outrageous waste of our hard earned taxpayer dollars, and it needs to be immediately redirected to supporting the rollout of renewable energy technologies in such as way as to maximise employment opportunities for Latrobe Valley power worke rs.”

“Beyond Zero Emissions supports the community protest at Hazelwood Power Station this Sunday.  If the State and Federal Governments are not prepared to stand up to the big polluters and do the right thing by the people of the Latrobe Valley and Australia, then the community needs to step up and take action.” Mr Ogge concluded.