Over at Grist, there is a report that confirms (yet again, as if more proof was needed) that investment in clean-tech is three times more effective than government spending on oil and gas jobs.

Cleantech generates 17 jobs for every $1 million spent on it, compared to just 5 for every $1 million we throw at an oil and gas industry that doesn’t need it but will fight to its dying breath to preserve the government largesse shoring up its bottom line.

… Robert Pollin, an economist who studied the impact of green stimulus dollars for the Commerce Department, said clean energy gets a better payoff because kick-starting a new industry requires a lot of manpower.

The slide above is from the LEAN presentation, focusing on US Commerce Dept data. In my view, the case is clear. Australia needs to end our inefficient, polluting subsidies to the fossil fuel industry if we serious about job creation.

The argument that I’ve heard bandied around – that there are fewer jobs in clean energy than fossil fuel – is wrong. Let’s not forget that the fossil fuel industry slashed jobs and destroyed communities in the 1980s when privatisation happened. The fossil fuel industry is no friend to workers – their primary concern is to make a profit, not build communities. The creation of jobs is a by-product of their destructive profit motive.