‘It’s the green economy, stupid’

Labour Should ditch ‘net zero’.

Not our legally binding targets or the goal of a low carbon economy. Just the phrase. Labour’s new leader has a unique opportunity to look again at everything. There’s no bigger issue or opportunity than net zero.

Net zero spending is out of control, DESNZ budgets have become bloated, its decisions disconnected from economic reality and most importantly – public understanding. Reform’s ‘net stupid zero’ attack line has truth in it. Some of us may deny it, but that’s how the public increasingly sees it. The herd, to quote a famous fool – has moved.

Labour’s next leader should drop net zero and instead focus on the green economy. This would be a profound shift. A focus on what we gain – not what we have to give up.

Most people don’t wake up worrying about carbon targets at all, let alone in 25 years time. They have other concerns, the cost of living, jobs, wages, housing – the economy as they experience it. As Bill Clinton might have said – it’s the green economy stupid.

This emerging economy already generates more than £100 billion for the UK, supports over one million jobs and continues to grow at four times the rate of the conventional economy. This is what the government should be talking about. The green economy is Britain’s next industrial revolution – our route to a bigger, stronger, more resilient (and more fair) economy.

The green economy should be our new goal. And if we make that transition, net zero will happen as a consequence. It’s not lost, it just ceases to be the headline focus.

‘Net zero’ has become a toxic term, no longer defensible or sensible to use. In pursuit of it we’re spending billions of pounds to subsidise heat pumps and electric vehicles – for people that have the money to consider a new car or an exotic heating system that costs more to run.

All while five million people struggle to pay the energy bills they have and one million kids don’t have a bed of their own to sleep in tonight. It’s hardly surprising that for many people the net zero agenda is not for people like them.

The next Labour leader can change all of this.

Start with a value for money review of our net zero spending plans. They total over £50 billion and, almost without exception, it’s money that will be wasted.

Carbon capture will burn £22 billion over the next quarter of a century. It’s a technology that doesn’t work commercially anywhere in the world, despite years of pursuit and promise, yet our carbon targets depend on it – we might as well depend on the tooth fairy.

Nuclear spending will eat £14 billion for Sizewell C, a project which can’t deliver anything for another 15 years (but is adding to energy bills now) and by the time it comes we should have been 100% green on the grid already for over a decade. The boss of EDF, which part-owns it – recently argued Britain should stop building new generation infrastructure because we have too much. He said “As a country (UK)  we don’t need more electricity generation capacity.” So why do we need it for Sizewell? And then there’s Mini nuclear projects, heat pumps, hydrogen – another £10 billion combined – to what benefit?

Just this week a hydrogen project was announced with the boast of 1,500 jobs. But at a cost of £1.5 billion, that’s a staggering £1 million pounds per job. Carbon capture and nuclear schemes are worse – between £3 and £5 million per job. It’s economic madness. No wonder ‘net zero’ has a bad name.

 DESNZ too should be abolished.

The department was created to signal a political commitment to ‘net zero’. But itself has become the biggest obstacle to that goal. We should break it up – returning responsibility for energy to the business department, where businesslike decisions get made – not evangelical ones. And change the focus away from ‘net zero’ giving the responsibility for the green economy to the Treasury – where economic issues get proper attention. That would represent a profound shift in thinking.

 The next Labour leader has an opportunity to reset the debate completely.

Drop the term ‘net zero’ and ditch DESNZ. Redirect vast sums of our money away from vanity projects and towards economic priorities. In doing so, we won’t delay our arrival at actual ‘net zero’ by even one day. We may even speed it up. Put energy policy back at the heart of business based decision making and the green economy in the hands of the Chancellor, make this, not ‘net zero’ – the core mission of government.

Let’s replace eco zealotry with some eco pragmatism.

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