Monday, September 17, 2007

It's Not Easy Being Green

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

The high-profile eco-friendly company Easy Being Green, which made a crusade out of installing energy-saving light bulbs, will fold up business in NSW today, laying off 150 staff and about 100 contractors following the crash in the NSW carbon market.

The company's charismatic head, former Greenpeace activist Paul Gilding, held a last rally at Erskineville Oval yesterday, which he called "a final bid" to save the jobs and the company's role in visiting almost 3000 households a week to advise on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

But late in the day Mr Gilding conceded there was no hopeand while the company would stay afloat, its business would cease. He said he would be discussing the company's financial position with its creditors but he believed the talks would be "amicable" and there was no consideration at this stage of going into receivership.

Calls for the Iemma Government to intervene in the state carbon market and save the jobs of his staff and hundreds of others in environmental businesses had failed, Mr Gilding said. "The NSW Government informed Easy Being Green that it will not take any action to save its collapsing Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme and about 1000 jobs."...MORE