The lie of 'green growth'
Studies show that the green economy hasn't grown. Who knew?!
Green politicians never explained how a 'greener' economy would produce the magic growth and jobs and happiness they promised. Meanwhile, their scruffier allies in the green movement argued for economic contraction and against capitalism.
UK green economy has failed to grow since 2014, according to official data
Office for National Statistics finds ‘no significant change’ in turnover and jobs in low-carbon and renewable energy sector
Now we know which kinds of green were telling the truth.
Friends of Dearth.
Has any green promise come true?
Has any green prognostication come true?
Trade unions raised questions over the government’s plan to boost Britain’s low-carbon economy after years of limited progress. Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, said the UK had an opportunity to be a pioneer on the path to net zero. “But we will miss out on these opportunities if ministers do not step up public investment and action. And we could see existing jobs lost to other countries who modernise their industry faster,” she added.
Although the latest snapshot includes the first year of the coronavirus pandemic – when the British economy plunged into the deepest recession for 100 years – the figures show that in 2019, before the health emergency struck, green business turnover also fell compared with a year earlier.
I rang @TUCGlobal in early 2009 to ask them how the 'green industrial revolution' announced by Brown, Miliband and Mandelson was going to make '400,000' green new jobs. "I hope I'm not speaking to a climate change denier", said their spokesman.
"How will it be good for workers", I replied. "We've got to do it", he told me. Turns out that the unions really didn't have much to say, about how green policy is good for jobs and workers. This was the article.
I rang around half a dozen or so union people. The TUC guy was the only one who had anything to say, though had not even considered the possibility that it might not produce jobs, might not be good for workers, and might be a failure all round.
The
might just as well have said "F**K THE WORKERS".
In the end, I got a quote from the @ASI. "You can't just create new jobs in a sector which is politically appealing without there being knock-on effects further on in the economy", he said. He was right.
I was extremely sceptical too, of the claims that Brown, Miliband Jr. and Mandelson were making. They said that the global green economy was worth $3 trillion. They were using research from some dodgy economic consultancy. I met them, but they refused to show me their workings.
The dodgy firm had been hired by DECC/BIS to do this research, so when I FOI'ed them, the department claimed that the information was proprietary -- the IP belonged to the company.
Later on, I persisted with the FOI request. I appealed their refusal to release the data on which they were claiming that the 'green economy' of the UK was growing and was worth £121bn. I said that the public had a right to see the data on which policy was based.
I eventually got the taxonomy, but not the entire data. So I had to try to reverse engineer the government's dodgy analysis from other data. I argued that the size of the green economy had been inflated by the "research" by 700%.
The fake statistic had been produced by counting *everything* subject to environmental legislation as part of the 'green economy'.
So because there are standards that apply to construction materials, for e.g., the market for doors and windows is included in the 'green economy'.
So, TL;DR, of course if you increase the number of good and services that are subject to 'green' legislation, and then use the market for those goods and services as the index of the 'green economy', then the size of the 'green economy' seems also to grow!
D'uh!
It seems even the government realised that the figures they -- and the green lobby -- were using were a scam.
The ONS took over the job of estimating the size of the green economy thereafter.
So it is no surprise that, 13 years later, even the green sector is stagnating.
The UK’s low-carbon and renewable energy economy has failed to grow since 2014, according to official data showing a fall in the number of green jobs.
In a blow to the government’s pledge to boost net-zero employment opportunities, the Office for National Statistics said its latest figures, covering 2020, showed “no significant change” in turnover and job numbers in the sector compared with six years earlier.
Employment in the low-carbon and renewable energy economy – which includes manufacturing, energy supply and construction – fell by about 28,000 across the UK over the period, to just 207,800. Among the steepest declines were in factories producing energy-efficient products, onshore wind, and solar energy.
The 'green economy' is nothing but lies built on lies built on lies. The government did not check its own ambitions against reality in 2009. Neither did their putative allies -- the unions. And neither did the opposition parties in Westminster. And neither did the MS newsmedia...
I hate to say I told you so. But I did.
My analysis outlasted the govt. departments responsible. Any scrutiny could have avoided the >decade of economic self-harm they inflicted on us. But politicians, media and unions and civil society organisation are unable and unwilling.
It's also worth noting a couple more things... The government changed during that story, from Labour until 2010, followed by the Con-LibDem coalition. So all parties were involved in the BS. And the @ASI -- claimed to be the epicentre of evil green Toryism -- were ignored, too.