Betting on a Green New Deal
Under the slogan of a ''Green New Deal,'' leaders from the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki Moon, to Al Gore, the former U.S. vice president, and Germany's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, argue that industrialized countries can achieve two goals through a single effort and create millions of ''green collar'' jobs.
The idea of using tax breaks and extra public spending to promote energy efficiency, mitigate carbon emissions and develop renewable power sources, inspired by a U.S. public works program put in place during the Great Depression, sounds like common sense.
But it may not happen fast enough or on a sufficient scale to stimulate the economy, stop global warming or bring down for any length of time oil prices that reached $147 a barrel this year.
''This is the big opportunity to get off the oil hook, but governments have to be bold, do it on a large scale and stick to it,'' said Tom Burke, co-founder of E3G, an environmental consultancy, and associate professor at Imperial College London.
He advocates sustained public investment in wind farms, photovoltaic and solar energy, developing so-called clean coal technology, connecting European electricity grids and combining heating and power from natural gas to make offices and homes more fuel efficient.
Yet governments that have collectively found about $5 trillion to rescue banks and galvanize economies hesitate to focus fiscal stimulus measures on clean energy because of the long lead time for many projects.
Indeed, there are signs that the financial crisis is causing cutbacks in public and private-sector investment in wind farms and solar and wave power, and economic angst may make the European Union scale back ambitious legislation to fight climate change.
The U.S. president-elect, Barack Obama, said in a campaign debate that the credit crunch could slow his plans for a $150 billion clean energy program, shaped to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil and create five million ''green collar'' jobs
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Posted by on 11/21 at 01:20 PM