High levels of youth unemployment and the serious threat of environmental disaster are contributing to a sense of malaise among young people today. It’s time for Ottawa to address these problems by developing a green economy that will not only employ youth, but also mitigate the worst effects of global climate change.
A good place to start would be green retrofits for homes. These renovations make homes more energy-efficient, lower heating bills, and create jobs while reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
A June report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives argues that “building retrofits are the low-hanging fruit of green job development,” since a great number off homes remain far from the “zero-emissions” goal we should be aiming for.
But earlier this year, Ottawa axed ecoENERGY Retrofit, a popular program that helped homeowners make their homes more energy-efficient with grants of up to $5,000. Neither the provincial nor municipal government offer anything to fill the gap.
The retrofits saved more than 1.8 million megatonnes of greenhouse gases in its initial phase, according to a statement on the website of Vic Toews, the minister of public safety, who called for the program’s renewal last year.
The program also created jobs by stimulating demand for renovations, which means more opportunities for businesses specializing in green building.
This kind of program is by no means a panacea. As the CCPA argues, such measures need to happen in tandem with skills-training programs aimed at disadvantaged groups.
A boom in energy-efficient renovations should benefit young people, aboriginal people, and immigrants who are among those struggling to find well-paying and meaningful work.
Ottawa should work with provinces and territories on apprenticeship programs that help youth develop skills in green renovation and other environmentally-focused industries.
The House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Human Resources is currently studying ways to improve apprenticeship programs, to get more young people involved in the trades. But the green economy is not on the agenda.
At the same time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government is investing a fortune in the environmentally destructive fossil fuel industry. A study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development found that Ottawa was providing nearly $1.4 billion in tax breaks and other subsidies to the oil industry in 2009.
Meanwhile, youth from a coalition of environmental groups called PowerShift Canada are calling for Harper to invest in green jobs. Maybe it’s time that he listen.
These youth point out that oil subsidies support some of the most unsustainable activities on the planet. Indeed, oil and gas facilities produce one-third of the carbon dioxide emissions in the country, according to data from the CCPA.
But these industries also frequently offer high-paying, unionized jobs that workers don’t want to lose. And huge investment in the Athabasca tar-sands means that oil appears to be the new engine of economic growth in Canada.
The challenge is to create an economy based on green jobs and policies such as the promotion of green renovation would be a step in the right direction. But the federal government is going backwards.
Without a major investment in green jobs, the Harper government threatens to leave the young generation with a legacy of environmental calamity, and in the meantime, joblessness.