Guided by the climate fundamentalists in its new Labour government, Britain’s net-zero disaster is gathering pace. Its ambition is to inspire the world . . . or something. That’s not going to happen, but if this reckless and ill-conceived experiment is to have any value (it will certainly do nothing for the climate), it can at least serve, not as an inspiration, but as a warning or, rather, a series of warnings. One of those warnings ought to be to labor unions because if there is one thing that is clear, it is that net zero is going to mean very few, if any, net new jobs. There will be (supposedly) new green jobs, but will enough of them be created to make up for the jobs that net zero will cost?
Let’s just say I have my doubts.
Creative destruction, for all its merits for the economy as a whole, can be deeply disruptive for those workers at its wrong end, at least for a while, and, in some cases, for longer. Looking at net zero, however, it’s hard to say that there is very much that it is creative about the destruction it will bring in its wake. Billions are being spent with no significant climate benefits any time soon, if ever. Capital is destroyed; malinvestment is king. The technologies of the new green era seem, in many cases, to be steps back, promising, say, slower, more anxious car journeys or threatening the reintroduction of a degree of energy instability that has not been seen for a while.
The Daily Telegraph (October 1):
Ed Miliband’s bid to move the UK on to green energy risks destabilising the National Grid, a leading EDF executive has warned.
Rachael Glaving said that by abandoning stable forms of energy generation, such as coal, gas and nuclear, the grid would be reliant on intermittent sources such as wind and solar.
She indicated that this would leave the UK’s energy system at risk of a shortfall should the weather fail to deliver.
“Should the weather fail to deliver.”
I have mentioned before that labor unions in the U.K. are beginning to ask awkward questions about what the “race” to net zero will mean for jobs. Gary Smith, the general secretary of the GMB union, spoke (correctly) of “exporting jobs and importing virtue.” He’s still sounding the alarm, and another union boss is adding her support.
Via Scotland’s Press & Journal (September 30):
Offshore firms and the GMB trade union said the new UK Government left the oil and gas sector “facing a cliff-edge” for investment, production and jobs.
Labour has pledged to block new licences to explore new oil and gas fields, sparking alarm among energy figures in Aberdeen.
In a statement, Offshore Energies UK chief David Whitehouse, GMB general secretary Gary Smith and Association of British Independent Exploration Companies chief Robin Allan warned plans to end North Sea drilling risk catastrophic job losses.
They said questions remain about whether oil and gas would be produced domestically or imported “in an increasingly volatile world.”
Writing jointly for The Times, they said: “Imagine the equivalent of a Grangemouth refinery closing nearly every week from 2025 to 2030.
“No one should leave that unchallenged.”
Earlier this month, bosses at Petroineos, who own the Grangemouth site, confirmed the refinery will close in the second quarter of 2025, with the loss of 400 jobs.
At the weekend, Sharon Graham, the general secretary of the Unite union, branded the planned closure a “horrific act of industrial vandalism”.
She added: “Grangemouth is making net zero look far from a just transition, more a jobless transition.”
Labour has already committed to increase the controversial windfall tax on oil and gas profits, to 78%, extending it until at least 2029 and removing investment allowances.
And for what?