I hope you had a wonderful holiday however you may celebrate. And let’s hope that we survive until noon on January 20th and that after that 2021 is a better year than this one.
As we end 2020 I am astounded and delighted by the change that has occurred since the 2018 midterm election. The change in the public’s and many politicians’ attitude and belief in climate change is pronounced. All the work that so many like myself have been trying to achieve for decades is finally bearing fruit. All over the world the threats and impacts of climate change are finally being felt. It is being recognized and action is starting. Momentum is growing exponentially to do something about it.
As we end this year which has brought so much misery, I want to return to a consistent theme about which I’ve often written because one of the barriers to solutions is finally being recognized and accepted as false and is crumbling.
For as long as I have been writing this newsletter, about 25 years now, I have told you that there is not one, NOT ONE, credible study or analysis that has shown that doing what is good for the environment is bad for the economy overall. I have challenged you to prove me wrong and nobody has even tried. There’s a popular myth that is propagated by many in politics, government and business that tries to frighten us with this nonsense. EVERY TIME an environmental law has gone into effect it has been positive for business overall.
Does environmental regulation affect and hurt some industries? Yes. But that is more than offset by the benefits ESPECIALLY if and when the positive aspects to public health are factored in.
This is now being reiterated by the British government officially.
“The U.K.’s efforts to introduce new climate policies and neutralize emissions by 2050 will likely have a “relatively small” impact on the economy, according to the government.
A move to a net-zero economy will create new jobs and opportunities for green industry to flourish…
The government’s independent adviser, the Committee on Climate Change, came to a similar conclusion last week that said the net-zero goals may pay for themselves in the opportunities they create.”
“the savings to Britain from ending the use of fossil fuels in transport and using more efficient energy technologies would cancel out the increased investment needed.”
That’s it for today. Short and sweet.
U.K. Says Climate Goals Can be Met Without Hurting Economy
Friday, December 18, 2020
Alex Morales and Jeremy Hodges, Bloomberg
The U.K.’s efforts to introduce new climate policies and neutralize emissions by 2050 will likely have a “relatively small” impact on the economy, according to the government.
A move to a net-zero economy will create new jobs and opportunities for green industry to flourish, the U.K. Treasury said in a report published yesterday. Policy that’s designed well will support innovation and encourage the deployment of new technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen.
The government’s independent adviser, the Committee on Climate Change, came to a similar conclusion last week that said the net-zero goals may pay for themselves in the opportunities they create.
“Employment opportunities in green industries will emerge, while high-carbon sectors will have to adapt or decline,” the report said. Government should use a variety of policies, including a carbon market to support emissions reduction.
Both the Treasury and the CCC are looking at the U.K.’s goal to slash net output of greenhouse gases to zero by 2050. It was also tasked with analyzing ways to maximize economic growth as the country makes the transition to less polluting industries.
Prime Minster Boris Johnson has put fighting climate change front and center of government policy as he seeks to emphasize the U.K.’s global outlook in the wake of Brexit. Earlier this month he pledged the steepest greenhouse gas cuts of any major economy, and this week his government published an energy blueprint that pushed nuclear power and renewables and sought to overhaul the way people heat their homes.
Those plans come at a cost, and the CCC estimates low-carbon investment must reach £50 billion ($68 billion) a year by 2030, up from about £10 billion today.
But the climate panel also has reduced its estimate of the costs of the transition and said last week that the savings to Britain from ending the use of fossil fuels in transport and using more efficient energy technologies would cancel out the increased investment needed.
The government says it will fund at least one power project equipped with CCS technology that captures emissions and stores them permanently under the seabed, starting with £1 billion by the middle of the decade.
CCS is crucial in securing the future of large gas plants in the electricity mix. Overall, the U.K. wants to capture 10 million tons of carbon dioxide a year by 2030. — Alex Morales and Jeremy Hodges, Bloomberg
