Sunderland’s green vision to beat recession
January 23, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Chris Mullin, MP for Sunderland South, wants to see green jobs created in order to introduce vital employment to help beat the recession. The main area is to be in recycling, where building new plants would prevent the UK’s reliance on Asia, which currently purchases much of the UK’s recyclable goods. Mr Mullin wants to see the government put cash into environmental schemes in order to create a greener UK which would take responsibility for recycling goods itself. He is keen to see areas like Sunderland become home to these new developments, particularly in light of the recent job losses at Nissan.
These initiatives follow a similar vein to those suggested by Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg who, in December, called for several green goals to pave the way out of the recession. These included re-opening old railway lines, insulating schools, homes and hospitals and building zero-carbon social houses. President-Elect Barack Obama is making similar calls in the U.S, where plans are afoot to create 5 million green jobs in the clean energy sector, pioneering green technologies and the development of clean coal technology. On all sides of the globe, politicians, reeling from the state of the economy and the potential effects of climate change, are suggesting green jobs as one answer to the world’s problems. In Sunderland, Mr Mullin has watched as recyclable goods stack up in warehouses waiting until China and other Asian countries begin to increase their demand for this material. He wants to see the UK ensure a more stable future for itself and sees green initiatives in areas such as recycling and the greener vehicle industry as two key ways to make this happen.
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