The Green New Deal: how not to do it.

Today's government announcement of 400,000 "green jobs" misses the point of the Green New Deal, the Green Party said today.

Professor John Whitelegg, a leading academic and consultant (1) and Green Party spokesperson on sustainable development, said this morning:

"The Brown New Deal is not a Green New Deal. It relies on nuclear power, which is not remotely green and which sustains the fewest jobs per megawatt of any form of electiricty generation. Replace nuclear with renewable energy and you will get the same amount of energy with far more jobs, and ultimately at a lower cost.

"And carbon capture is neither zero-carbon nor jobs-rich. The government recently trailed a claim of only 50,000 jobs in so-called 'clean coal' by 2030. But figures soon to be released by the Green Party will show how wind energy could create four times as many jobs ten years sooner."

Professor Whitelegg concluded:

"We know how to achieve a zero-carbon economy through jobs-rich green energy policies, so why on earth should we tinker with jobs-poor unproven technology that keeps us dependent on fossil fuels?"