Former cabinet minister Chris Huhne has issued a stark warning that the UK’s economic growth strategy will not work unless the government pursues “green growth” by investing in industries such as energy efficiency and clean energy. Writing in the Guardian, Huhne says: “Much of our economic debate implies we must choose between going green or going for growth. That view may be the opposite of the truth. There is now hard evidence that the real choice is between green growth or no growth at all.”
Huhne, who resigned as energy secretary in February while he fights charges that he asked his former wife to take points on her licence for speeding, does not criticise the government and declined to name those he says are portraying green policies as a barrier to growth. However, senior Liberal Democrats in the coalition have privately complained that some Tory colleagues have been obstructing policies such as the green deal and new building regulations to make homes and offices more energy efficient, as well as the powers of a new green investment bank.
Huhne’s intervention also comes amid growing concern about chancellor George Osborne’s strict austerity cuts in public spending, with critics arguing that he should be spending more to boost growth. Pressure rose last week when official figures showed a second successive quarter of falling economic output – meaning the UK had entered a double-dip recession for the first time since 1975.
This week’s cabinet meeting spent 45 minutes on the issue. The prime minister’s spokesman later denied ministers discussed a change of tactics, but he said there was a conversation about the importance of making sure existing investment schemes did go ahead as planned – suggesting, perhaps, there was some unease about the pace of recovery. Huhne’s argument focuses on an unprecedented situation where developed countries are in recession while energy and materials prices are rising. In the past lower demand from rich nations would have reduced the price of such key commodities, but now they are being driven higher by growth in Asia “on a scale never before experienced in economic history”. (more…)
Jobs in Core Green Economy. New data, released in the 2012 Many Shades of Green: California’s Shift to a Cleaner, More Productive Economy (www.next10.org), reveals that California’s Core Green Economy showed greater resilience at the height of the recent recession, outperforming the overall economy by retaining a greater percentage of its workforce. The data, which represents a comprehensive, bottom-up accounting of California’s Core Green Economy, shows that from January 2009 to January 2010, the state’s overall economy registered job losses of seven percent. Those losses are more than two times higher than the job losses tracked in the state’s Core Green Economy, which saw a three percent loss in jobs. In the long term, employment in California’s Core Green Economy grew by 53 percent from 1995-2010, while jobs in the wider economy grew by 12 percent.
There is little doubt that green will be the metaphorical color of choice for world leaders when they gather at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh. Attention will focus on turning the “green shoots” of recovery into sustainable “green growth,” leading to “green economies” consistent with the goal of protecting the world’s climate.
Green Oregon. The catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has spurred President Obama to demand congressional action to reduce our dependence on oil and protect the climate through increased production of renewable clean energy. The president says this will create thousands of “green jobs.”
Greenhouse emissions in 2010. Starting this year, many mid- to large-sized businesses in Washington state will have to report their greenhouse gas emissions to the state Department of Ecology. The reporting rule is part of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Bill that was passed by the state legislature in 2008. The bill aims to determine the level of emissions being produced in Washington so that a plan can be developed to reduce those emissions. This is the first time the state has required businesses to report greenhouse gas emissions, and in many aspects, this year will be a trial run for the program. Many of the reporting guidelines are modeled after The Climate Registry, a nonprofit organization that seeks to establish consistent greenhouse gas reporting standards throughout North America.