GreenJobs BC: Local Best Practices, Town Halls, News Roundup - our fullest update yet!

• 
• 

Details

Published on Wednesday, 03 December 2014 12:44

Written by editor

... "GreenJobs BC Newsletter - December 2014"

s16
r18.

GreenJobs BC News December 2014

Local Government Best Practices and Municipal Elections Roundup

In September, GreenJobs BC released Best Practices for Local Governments, documenting local success stories from across BC in the areas of Green Buildings, Procurement, Transportation, and Green Industry.
The November 2014 municipal elections saw environmental issues play a key role in a number of elections. Some local governments have clear strategies and mechanisms for green job creation, including Vancouver and North Cowichan. Municipalities have been forced to take on larger responsibilities due to senior government downloading, as shown by an important new report by the Columbia Institute. Despite these challenges, BC's first 4-year municipal term also presents a terrific opportunity to create a legacy of sustainable job creation.

Fall Town Hall event summaries posted

In September and October, GJBC held town hall meetings in Kamloops, Williams Lake, and Prince George, summaries of which have all been posted online (click place-names for event summaries).Our thanks to all those who participated! It has been inspiring to hear about the many projects and successes underway across the province, and to see foundations of a green economy across different communities and economies. These recent forums add to spring forums in Kimberley, Castlegar, Chilliwack, Gibsons, and Courtenay Input from the town halls has been incorporated into a draft paper (see CCPA item below), and will be further refined as input into a Green Jobs Plan for BC.
Additional town halls and a Green Jobs Conference will be held in 2015 - stay tuned for further locations and conference details!

CCPA Good Jobs Conference & BC Fed Convention

GreenJobs presented a paper at the recent CCPA-BC/BC Federation of Labour Good Jobs Conference, where speakers outlined ideas for job creation that benefits BC communities and workers. Highlights of some of the conference's "big ideas" can be found here, and papers from the conference will be released in 2015. A draft of the GreenJobs paper is available upon request.
GreenJobs also presented to a morning forum at the 2014 BC Federation of Labour Convention. The Convention elected Irene Lanzinger as the first female head of the BC Fed; Irene’s work on the GreenJobs Steering Committee has been vital to the organization’s success and we are proud to work with her in her new role as President of the BC Federation of Labour.

Green jobs news from BC and beyond

A recent report is making waves with its numbers showing that green energy now accounts for more jobs in Canada than the oil sands. A group of prominent politicians (from NDP to Reform) and economists (from left to right) came out in favour of taxing pollution not jobs, which spurred the Globe and Mail to endorse carbon pricing. BC's carbon tax continues to be a model for the rest of the country.

Here in BC, and the Pembina Institute showed that small clean energy projects are creating big job benefits. A citizen-led solar initiative in the Cowichan Valley kick-started the region's industry with one bulk buy of solar panels, Endurance Wind Power opened a new factory in Surrey, and Vancouver became the testing ground for Hyundai’s Fuel-Cell Electric Vehicle because of the region’s network of hydrogen fueling stations. This supports Pembina's conclusion that BC has better options for job creation than LNG development.

Renewables became the largest source of power in Scotland during the first half of 2014. The largest solar plant in the world went live in California, and a UC Berkeley Report shows how California’s solar industry has succeeded in creating a strong, unionized workforce with huge benefits to the state’s workers. In the US, job growth in renewables is happening 10 times as fast as the rest of the economy. A literature review of 50 studies on energy efficiency investments across OECD countries finds that these investments create on average 10 times as many jobs as investments in fossil fuels.

Upcoming events

• The Pembina Institute is hosting a Sharing Our Successes webinar on December 9 at 11am PT, with green building success stories from North Cowichan, the City of North Vancouver, and Mountain Equipment Co-op.
• Vancouver Climate Risk Forum on divestment from fossil fuel investments, Dec. 5 9am-5pm, plus free public lecture at 7pm by former Mayor of Seattle Mike McGinn
• Douglas’ College Building Energy and Resource Management program is having another intake, with classes starting in December.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. We look forward to working together to build a strong, green economy in British Columbia. follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend Copyright © 2014 GreenJobs BC, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you attended the GreenJobs BC Retrofit & Building Forum.
Our mailing address is:
GreenJobs BC1166 Alberni StreetVancouver, Bc v6e 3z3 Canada
Add us to your address book r34 | r35