Jobs: April 1997 - August 1997


Jobs and the Environment
Below is some interesting research which shows how protecting the environment can create a stronger economy and provide more jobs. If this area interests you then Friends of the Earth’s Working Future? Jobs and the Environment book is well worth a purchase for £5.95. Phone FoE on 01582 482297

In urban areas, restricting car access and providing more pedestrianisation has increased the security of employment in the retail sector. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in an international survey found that only 2% of pedestrianisation schemes led to a fall in retail turnover. Some 49% of schemes recorded upward tends in turnover , most of around 25%. The OECD concluded that “pedestrianisation is an economic success”

A study in Los Angles shows that 85 cents of every local dollar spent on petrol leaves the regional economy, much of it leaving the country as well. In contrast, out of every dollar that buys a fare on public transport, an estimated 80 cents goes towards transport workers’ wages. The study found that the circulation of those 80 cents in the local economy generated more than $3.80 in goods and services in the region.

  • Returnable beer & soft drink bottles could increase employment by 4,000.
  • Raising paper recycling to Dutch level could create 4,500 new jobs.
  • Recycling waste oils and solvents could create 4,000 jobs.


Ecological Tax Reform
Please write to your MP ( The House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA) and ask him/her to sign Early Day Motion 488 on Ecological Tax Reform. It says

“That this House believing in the importance of sustainable development, supports the principle of ecological tax reform, which means attempting to shift taxation from jobs to waste and pollution without increasing the overall tax burden, as one means of achieving it; and notes that, properly administered, this would strengthen environmental protection, create jobs and increase productivity and so benefit all sections of the community.”