Is believing two contradictory things before breakfast actually a requirement for being a Green?
Ed Matthew, senior economics campaigner at Friends of the Earth
“Cutting emissions must be at the heart of the pre-budget report – slashing energy waste, developing the UK’s vast renewable energy potential, ending fuel poverty and creating tens of thousands of new green jobs.”
Renewable energy costs more than fossil. Thus he’s calling for energy prices to increase. Fuel poverty is a result of energy prices being high relative to incomes. Thus he is calling for low energy prices.
It’s pretty good to be calling for both high energy prices and low energy prices in the same sentence, don’t you think?
8 responses so far ↓
1 Kay Tie // Dec 9, 2009 at 9:53 am
Nothing on the case of Philip Bowles today?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6949450.ece
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6949315.ece
2 Kay Tie // Dec 9, 2009 at 10:05 am
Bingo. Please delete the above comment. And this one.
3 Brian, follower of Deornoth // Dec 9, 2009 at 11:06 am
“We don’t want higher energy prices! We don’t want lower energy prices! We want Socialist energy prices!”
(Apologies to Dr Goebbels.)
4 Matthew // Dec 9, 2009 at 11:46 am
There’s not necessarily a contradiction here. Curbing energy use could easily save money.
5 AntiCitizenOne // Dec 9, 2009 at 2:13 pm
If it’s at the expense of productivity or time then no it’s not easy (or possible).
6 MikeinAppalachia // Dec 9, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Sure-when (not if) electricity prices double, just use 51% less.
7 Ltw // Dec 9, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Unfortunately, despite your efforts Tim, this misconception that if we just switch to clean, more efficient (never worked out where they get that one, coal fired plants operate pretty much on the theoretical limit now) renewable power the world will be better. The problem seems to be they don’t see a) the engineering challenges involved in some of these alternatives, b) the capital cost and the loss of existing productive assets which have not amortised yet, and c) they really believe it will be cheaper (lower maintenance, free energy from the environment, whatever). Whenever the last comes up I say “When are you starting your company then? Who is stopping you from writing a business plan, borrowing the money, and getting on with it? Where are the laws stopping you?”
I rarely get an answer…
8 Jim // Dec 9, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Eco-freakery exists in its own world where logic and the physical contraints of reality do not matter. It is entirely consistent for an environmentalist to call for two diametrically opposed things, and no-one in the environmental movement will bat an eyelid, other than to compliment their revolutionary zeal.
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