South Korea is a step ahead of the United States in terms of creating a ‘Green New Deal’. The country’s prime minister announced on Tuesday that South Korea will invest 50 trillion won ($38 billion USD) over the next four years on environmental projects to invigorate the economy and create nearly a million jobs. The announcement comes just weeks before President-elect Obama’s inauguration, after which he is expected to quickly begin work on a U.S. green stimulus.
From MSNBC:
“We are in an unprecedented global economic crisis,” Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said in a statement. “We must respond to the situation in an urgent manner.”
Energy conservation, recycling, carbon reduction, flood prevention, development around the country’s four main rivers and maintaining forest resources are among projects to be pursued under the plan, approved at a Cabinet meeting.
Trade-dependent South Korea is looking for ways to boost its slowing economy as global demand wanes for traditional mainstay goods such as automobiles and technological products.
It’s certainly good for the U.S. to have some competition in this area, and encouraging to know that leaders around the world consider a green stimulus to be a smart way to tackle the economic crisis. If more countries began integrating sustainability into the basic fabric of their economies, we’d be well on our way to a far healthier planet.
Link [MSNBC]
Photo credit: Flickr user http2007
