|
|
 |
|
|
| Home | Ask Neale | Calendar | Links |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
USA must pressure China to go greenDate: 25 June 2008
Australian Workers' Union National Secretary Paul Howes this week met with Republican and Democrat Senators to lobby them for a global emissions trading scheme which protect the jobs of resource industry and manufacturing workers in Australia and the USA. " If we are to protect jobs in Australia and the United States developing countries like China need to be part of any global emissions trading scheme," Paul Howes told the media after his meeting with Congressional leaders. The AWU leader is in Washington DC as part of the Australia-America Leadership Dialogue, which includes Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and Resources Minister, Martin Ferguson. He took time out from the Dialogue meeting to lobby US political leaders, including the powerful Republican Senator, Arlen Specter, for a global emissions trading scheme. He had the opportunity to meet with the US Senators and their staff from states like Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Ohio as well as with the United Steelworkers of America. Global leadership if Australian and US workers aren't to be climate change victims" They were very supportive of my ideas of ensuring that the United States takes global leadership on this issue to lobby China to bring China and India, Brazil to the table to ensure that workers in developed nations aren't the first victims of climate change in our countries."Climate change and global emissions problems don't just stop at our coastline, our borders. This is a global issue and if we are to resolve it in the interests of our members the AWU needs to find partners everywhere - unions and environmental groups and politicians - who are prepared to listen and work together for a solution. "The AWU has made Climate Change and emissions trading a core union campaign issue for the next few years in order to give a voice to our members in the resource, steel, alumina and metallurgical mining industries. Innovative solutions to create good green jobs - not kill jobsPaul Howes talked of the need to promote innovative solutions for Climate Change problems, such as trapping CO2 under depleted offshore gas fields and negotiating with the Federal Government and employers as new legislation is promoted in parliament after the Garnaut report is completed," Paul Howes said.Large multinationals have no particular loyalty to AustraliaThe similarities between the American and Australian metal making industries are striking.Once Australia and the USA introduce climate change regimes, their aluminium and steel industries will be decimated by unfettered production in India, Brazil and particularly China, Paul Howes warned the US Senators.. " The companies that produce aluminium in Australia are large multi-national companies they have no particular loyalty to Australia and they will produce aluminium wherever is cheapest and most efficient to do that. Production shifted offshore causing greater problems for our Climate" If we put heavy burdens on our industry in Australia, burdens that don't exist in China, they'll simply shift production off-shore to China where the emissions will be 50 per cent higher which will in the end cause a greater problem with climate change then a solution - and this is called carbon leakage."United States can't continue to sit on the Kyoto sidelines - must show leadershipIn Washington DC Paul Howes urged US politicians and unions to promote a new Climate Change regime, during their upcoming November general election campaign. They must take into account the emissions policies of countries like China, India and Brazil."When the United States shows leadership, others will follow," he said. The AWU's national secretary told reporters, at a briefing after his Congress meetings that as Australia's biggest energy and resources union he wants to form alliances on climate change with US unions and politicians as part of an agenda by the union to make both countries climate change pacesetters. He said he was hopeful that the United States learns from Australia how quickly a country can move on climate change control. He told US media that when Kevin Rudd was elected Prime Minister in 2007 his first act of business was to sign the United Nation's Kyoto Protocol, and one week later he attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali. Need to build new alliances in the energy debateThe AWU's sister union in the USA, the Steelworkers, has established a groundbreaking alliance with one of the key environment groups in that country - the Sierra Club. Called the BlueGreen Alliance, the Steelworkers leader, Leo Gerard co-chairs the Alliance with Carl Pope of the Sierra Club,The BlueGreen Alliance has already lobbied the US Congress urging that the competitiveness provisions of any Climate Change legislation "be strengthened to ensure that existing manufacturing capacity in the United States is not encouraged to relocate offshore to avoid the increased costs of energy resulting from the pricing of carbon." The Australian Workers Union and the Steelworkers signed a strategic alliance in February 2005 aimed at building cooperation on issues involving common employers.
For further information
|
|
Privacy | Disclaimer | Sitemap |Feedback | Links |
|
© 1997-2002 LaborNET is a resource for the labour movement provided by the Labor Council of NSW 10th Floor, 377-383 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Ph: (02) 9264 1691 Fax: (02) 9261 3505 http://www.labor.net.au/news/1214371680_19404.html Last Modified: Wednesday, 25-Jun-2008 19:24:26 EST
LaborNET is proudly created, designed and programmed |
    |
