As part of its stimulus and financial recovery efforts, the British equivalent of the Secretary of Treasury, Chancellor Alistair Darling, has announced a £100m pledge to insulate homes in the UK.
The measure has three purposes: to stimulate the economy through an initiative that will create jobs and spark economic activity, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electricity/heat used during the winter, and finally, to trim the energy bills of approximately 60,000 homes.
The package that Chancellor Darling announced is a long-term investment in the country’s infrastructure (other measures included accelerated spending for flood defense, rail transit, energy efficiency) in order to trigger near-term stimulus. The Center for American Progress (CAP) has proposed a similar set or proposals (here) as an economic and green recovery pathway.
CAP explains what should be our economic strategy by breaking it into four steps: stabilization, stimulus, recovery, and growth. In order to invest in a low-carbon, resilient, and prosperous economy in the long-term, each of these steps must be greened. Similarly, Chancellor Darling said about UK policy that “economic recovery must support our environmental objectives – not come at its expense.”
This is a critical point to bear in mind amidst the financial crisis, and yet also in the weeks leading up to a round of UNFCCC climate talks in Poznan, Poland.
Neither side – economic and climate stabilization – can afford to get about the other’s cause. In fact, as Joe as previously argued, the climate crisis is ultimately a far riskier issue to delay or ignore.
All that to say, smart stimulus and recovery policy will integrate these two crises. When Congress next entertains a stimulus package, it should include some measures strikingly similar to what the UK Chancellor has just announced.
Related Posts:
- A Strategy for Green Recovery
- Green investment does create jobs
- The intellectual bankruptcy of conservatism: Heritage even opposes energy efficiency
- Nicholas Stern: Recession is the time to build a low-carbon future
- “The Green Collar Economy” is a NYT Bestseller
- Green policies in California created 1.5 million jobs
- Mayors report: 4.2 million new green jobs possible
- What would a Green Recovery do for your state?
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Ok, but does he know what his right hand is up to?
On one hand they do the right thing, on the other they panic, increasing fossil fuel use. Its crazy….
Much concern has been expressed regarding the long time lag inherent in rolling out major infrastructure projects. This is in conflict with the need to act quickly to stimulate the economy. One way to address this is to target smaller projects, such as the Weatherization Assistance Program, which proposes 400,000 projects at $2,250 each for low income homes.
A similar program targeted at the built environment in general (single and multi-unit residences, commercial and retail buildings) could generate hundreds of thousands of weatherization projects and increased demand for energy efficient appliances. One method being pioneered in Berkeley, California and Boulder, Colorado, has local governments making loans to property owners for EE upgrades. The loans are paid off through an increase in real estate taxes. Another method would pay off the loans through an increase in electricity and natural gas bills. This could help eliminate the owner / renter split incentive problem.
The built environment remains the lowest hanging fruit for investment in reductions of GHG emissions. Hopefully the Obama administration will recognize this in their strategy.
Sensible people (i.e. me!) have already insulated their walls and lofts. Many houses in the UK have solid walls, hollow floors, sash windows, etc and will always be hard to heat. Short of knocking them down there isn’t much that can be done for these.
Did you see this bit in the Indy article?
“But he also said oil and gas from the North Sea would continue to play an important part in the UK’s energy mix and said he would be working with industry to put incentives in place to increase production from marginal oil fields. ”
Suggests that climate change isn’t really the main driver.
As a UK resident I think we have done our bit and ought to sit back and wait for the rest of the world to do theirs. Our total CO2 is declining slightly and our per-capita quite significantly.
http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/emis/uki.html
It may even be counter-productive for one small country to reduce CO2 in isolation. We would be better off deliberately mirroring China’s and the US’s emissions so that no-one can be under the illusion that the world is on top of the problem.