The tragedy of the projected closure of Aberpergwm coalmine is the same tragedy which has been present every time a dirty energy industry closes. And that is the tragedy of inaction.
For decades we have known that there is a vast untapped potential for clean energy in Wales which will create thousands of jobs. Yet it has remained largely untapped.
Greens are very clear that re-training and investment in new energy would bring a huge bonanza in jobs and industry, especially amongst our more impoverished communities still struggling to recover from the mine closures.
Pippa Bartolotti, Wales Green Party leader said, “We should not just be harnessing the energy, but manufacturing the kit as well. Added to the tragedy of job losses, is the fact that overseas companies are setting up in the UK to make wind turbines. These should have been Welsh companies building wind mills for Welsh communities and providing good Welsh jobs.”
Siemens, the world's largest maker of offshore wind turbines, has won an order worth between £750 and £850 million from British utility Scottish Power, to build more than 100 turbines for the East Anglia One project, the first order for Siemens' new UK factory in Hull.
Pippa Bartolotti added, “We are talking about generations of missed opportunities. Unemployment and underemployment in Wales should never have happened. In Scotland, where the challenge of clean energy has long been met, they are producing almost 100% of their electricity from renewables, unemployment is low and female employment is at its highest on record.”