Green New Deal Round-Up

Andy Wimbush is nef’s Communications Assistant and blogmaster.

I mentioned a while back that Lord Chris Smith, chairman of the Environment Agency, has emerged as a enthusiastic advocate for the Green New Deal. Now, in an interview with the Observer, Lord Smith has criticised Gordon Brown’s environmental agenda for being incoherent, empty and inadequate. Brown talks about a Green New Deal, but hasn’t matched his words with effective action. Smith says:

Why on earth don’t we take a leaf out of Barack Obama’s book and put green technology right at the heart of the economic stimulus package that we believe the government is wanting to put together for the budget?

Why indeed. The case for a Green New Deal is stronger than ever. New research from the Environmental Industries Commission says that a Green New Deal in the UK could create 300,000 jobs. Meanwhile, over at Comment is Free, Brendan Barber describes how a global Green New Deal could be financed using a form of reserve currency known as ’special drawing rights’ (SDR):

In terms of job creation, economic stimulus and support for long-term growth – not to mention warding off climate disaster – nothing is likely to provide bigger benefits than investment in climate protection.

Fortunately, some local governments are not paralysed by the inertia which has suffocated Downing Street. In Sheffield, preparation is underway for a Green New Deal conference on 28th February, supported by the city council. Speakers include GND authors Larry Elliott and Colin Hines. For more information and details about how to register, visit: http://www.sheffieldgreennewdeal.org.uk/

At nef, we’re continuing to develop ideas about ways in which the economic crisis and climate change can be tackled together, with social justice as crucial stepping stone between the two.  Last month, our report Tackling Climate Change, Reducing Poverty – co-produced with our colleagues from the Roundtable on Climate Change and Poverty in the UK – addressed this issue.  This week, we have a new pamphlet from our social policy team, exploring how we might restructure the welfare state to help us tackle the joint challenges of climate change and economic meltdown. Green Well Fair calls for a new social settlement which moves beyond dependence on the market economy, towards valuing the other, forgotten economies of people and planet. Download it for free or order a printed copy here.

Obama and the Green New Deal

Andy Wimbush is nef’s Communications Assistant and blogmaster.

As promised, here’s the second half of this week’s Green New Deal round-up, featuring none other than the 44th President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama.

Yesterday afternoon, the relentless pace of thinking and doing that usually characterises life at nef headquarters was momentarily put on hold as we gathered to watch the inauguration speech. Murmours rippled around the office whenever Obama mentioned a topic which strayed into new economics territory. Early on, Obama spoke of the “greed and irresponsibility” which has brought the economy to its knees. Cue nods from those researching ethics in the new economy. Obama later described how “all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness”. Some whispers from our well-being team. But the new President received the most oohs and aahs from us whenever he touched on climate change and the environment. The issue wasn’t centre stage, but after eight years of denial and ignorance, we finally have an American government which is ready to make progress on these issues.

Which is just as well really: James Hansen – NASA climate scientist extraordinaire – has already warned Obama that he has only four years in which to act if we are have any chance at all of stopping extreme climate change. Hansen’s admonition is even starker than nef’s One Hundred Months campaign, which gives us less than 95 months – or just under eight years – to make the necessary changes. But whether it happens in his first term, or his second, it’s clear that Obama is going to be the most pivotal figure in the fight to stop global warming.

Although the phrase has been repeatedly associated with his economic and energy policies, Obama has been blowing hot and cold on the subject of a Green New Deal. Shortly after being elected, he seemed to rule out a New Deal-style programme by saying that “to simply recreate what existed back in the 30s in the 21st century… would be missing the boat”. But many of his promises to create jobs by rebuilding American infrastructure have certainly echoed Roosevelt’s earlier programme. And his address yesterday leaned further towards the Green New Deal, describing how the new America would “harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories”. Let’s just hope that ’soil’ translates as geothermal energy rather than biofuels. Check out BBC environment correspondent Richard Black’s very thorough dissection of the green content of the address at his blog.

Perhaps the most moving moments in the speech came towards the end, as Obama compared our situation today with that of America’s founders: “a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river” in 1776. He then quoted the words of Thomas Paine:

“Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].”

Our ‘common danger’ today is not so singular: it is a triple crunch of climate change, energy depletion and economic meltdown, with all the associated conflict, famine and social upheaval which those crises fuel. But the broad point remains: the existence of a ‘future world’ very much depends on the decisions we make right now. Let’s make them good ones.

Green New Deal Round-Up

Andy Wimbush is nef’s Communications Assistant and blogmaster.

Another busy week for the Green New Deal as Japan announces plans to create “millions” of jobs in the green technology sector. Environment Minister Tetsuo Saito told reporters that he had received orders from Japan’s Prime Minister to “draft a Green New Deal plan”. More on this at Bloomberg.

In the US, Barack Obama has given his first public address after being elected in November. Last Thursday he revealed some of his plans to help the ailing American economy, including several hints of a Green New Deal:

“To finally spark the creation of a clean energy economy, we will double the production of alternative energy in the next three years. We will modernize more than 75% of federal buildings and improve the energy efficiency of two million American homes, saving consumers and taxpayers billions on our energy bills. In the process, we will put Americans to work in new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced – jobs building solar panels and wind turbines; constructing fuel-efficient cars and buildings; and developing the new energy technologies that will lead to even more jobs, more savings, and a cleaner, safer planet in the bargain.”

Thanks to Beth Daley and Jeremy Williams for the tip. You can read the full text of Obama’s speech here.

Closer to home, some founder members of the Green New Deal Group had a letter in the Guardian last week about the inadequacy of Gordon Brown’s action on green jobs thus far. And today, leading environmentalists – including nef’s Andrew Simms – have accused the government of destroying thousands of job opportunities by failing to support low carbon technology with subsidies.

The reality is that action on  climate change is crucial if we are to weather the recession. A report published by nef today on behalf of a new coalition of environment and social justice NGOs argues that substantial green investment would combat the downturn and lift thousands of people in the UK out of poverty. The poorest people in this country will suffer hardest from the effects of climate change, such as heatwaves and flooding. But if we take intelligent action now to cut our carbon emissions, there could be benefits to people on low-incomes. Re-skilling for green jobs would tackle unemployment, home insulation programmes would fight fuel poverty, and improvements to low-carbon public transport would help those without cars.

The report, Tackling Climate Change, Reducing Poverty is available to download for free from the nef website.

Green New Deal Round-Up

Andy Wimbush is nef’s Communications Assistant and blogmaster.

Last week’s papers had a couple of great comment pieces on the Green New Deal and related matters.

In the Times, Camilla Cavendish wonders about the future of British jobs now that retailers are folding and banks cutting staff. “The new world,” she writes, “wll clearly not invole graduate lemmings hurtling towards banking.” Her proposed alternative to these job markets is the renewable energy sector, supported by a Green New Deal. Cavendish then explains how Britain is well “behind the green curve” compared to Germany, Denmark and Spain, and makes some proposals for how the stimulate green investment. It’s well worth reading the whole thing.

Andrew Rawnsley’s piece in the Observer has less of green feel (he starts by talking about a recent holiday in the US and I presume he didn’t swim there) but he does make a strong argument for a Keynesian restructuring of the economy, with investment in clean energy and high speed rail. His essential point is that spending on green technology “will cost a fraction of the billions which have been committed to the feckless banks.” In other words, if you’re going to spend, at least spend it wisely. Read the rest here.

The Independent on Sunday’s leader compares the mediocre compromises of the UN climate talks in Poznan with the promise of Barack Obama. While liberals might be revolting over Obama’s Lincolnesque “team of rivals”, at least two of his core advisors – energy secretary Stephen Chu and transition team manager John Podesta – have some laudable green credentials. The leader explains that not only is Obama geared up to start a Green New Deal at home, he is also set to lead international progress on climate change mitigation. Well, let’s hope so – 2009 is pretty much our last chance to get a global agreement in place.

Finally, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has followed his colleagues at UNEP in calling for a Green New Deal.

Green New Deal Round-Up

Andy Wimbush is nef’s Communications Assistant and blogmaster.

Once again, it’s time to track our Green New Deal meme through the headlines.

First off, Matthew DeBord at the Huff Post says that a bail-out of the American auto industry could be a decent launch pad for a GND. Professor William Ayers (a.k.a. Barack Obama’s ‘terrorist pal‘) has also come out as an advocate of Green New Deal solutions. Reuters’ Paul Taylor also thinks that a Green New Deal would be emminently sensible – but laments that “it takes political courage in a recession to think big”.

At the Independent, Geoffrey Lean reports that Boris Johnson – yes, Bush-backing, Kyoto-bashing Boris Johnson – has undergone something of an eco-conversion and will now call for a Green New Deal in his speech to the Environment Agency this week. Boris says he wants London to become the greenest city in the world. Lean also maintains faith that Barack Obama will deliver the GND goods: the President-Elect promises that 2.5 million jobs will be created over the next two years via spending on green infrastructure.

But the Economist says that we should stop comparing Barack Obama to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They once again dismiss the notion of a Green New Deal, arguing:

the election result was more a verdict on the incompetence of the Bush administration than a plea for an era of activist government. Forty-three per cent of voters (and 27% of Obama voters) have told pollsters that they think government is doing too much.

But there are a couple of problems with this argument.

Obama on climate change

Andy Wimbush is nef’s Communications Assistant and blogmaster.

Okay, so maybe Barack Obama isn’t exactly revolutionary in his economic outlook. But when was the last time that you heard an American politician – or a European one, come to think of it – describe climate change in these terms:

When it is about the economy but not economics

Eilís Lawlor is the acting head of the Valuing What Matters team at nef

Amid the economic gloom, it is taken as a given that the state of the economy will surpass all other priorities at the ballot box. But as the American election demonstrates, the relationship between a person’s economic position and their voting preferences is not nearly that straightforward.

The principle of representation is at the heart of the type of democracy which we in the UK share with the United States. In theory, it’s meant to prevent elites from acquiring and maintaining power: it ensures that the legislature mirrors the nation’s constituents.

In practice, however, it doesn’t always work that way. It’s not unusual for people to vote for candidates who are quite unlike themselves, but who they think will represent their interests. I doubt that many people who elect the current Conservative Party front bench would aspire to join their clubs or their social circle. At other times, we vote – in good faith – for candidates who subsequently let us down. When small shopkeepers voted for Margaret Thatcher in their droves, they probably didn’t expect her to unleash a wave of deregulation that would culminate in one of the most concentrated business sectors in the world.

But nowhere has the link between class and voting preferences been as successfully eroded as in the US. The unholy alliance between economic neoliberals and social conservatives means that people will regularly vote against their own material interests for cultural, religious and patriotic reasons. So while 63% of voters said that the economy was their top concern this did not necessarily translate into a vote for the person, or party most likely to represent their economic interests.

Democracy is problematic for elites when 60% of the electorate earn less than $70,000. It’s not that the relationship between income and voter preference is inverse, the very rich also veer towards the Republican Party. It was only amongst minorities – where race played a greater role – that this asymmetry was turned on its head

The Republican base of poor white Southerners stayed loyal to a party that has cut taxes for the rich and eroded their healthcare and benefits and shunned Obama’s more progressive tax plan.

As well as capturing the language of human dignity and freedom, the right claim a monopoly on morality and national pride however narrowly defined. Hence, guns, God and abortion trumped jobs, insurance and a mortgage even during a month in which another quarter of a million swelled the ranks of the unemployed. This is fiendishly clever because it undermines the saleability of a more equitable system to the very people it should benefit thereby shifting the goalposts further rightward. Whether Obama’s consensus approach can reach those that reject their own economic representation remains to be seen.

I believe the children are our future

Sam Thompson is a researcher and a consultant at nef’s centre for well-being.

As people start getting stuck into the polling data in the wake of Obama’s victory, some interesting patterns are emerging. This, for instance, is pretty striking:

Relative to 2004, the number of under 30s who voted stayed pretty much the same, but their preference swung strongly toward the Democrats.

Now, there are probably any number of ways of explaining this result, but it’s interesting when read in conjunction with recent research on the relative happiness of younger and older people. In short, younger people tend to be more optimistic about how happy they will be the future, whilst underestimating how happy there were in the past.

Needless to say, optimism was a central feature of Obama’s campaign. Rather than running on a negative, Bush-bashing platform (the temptation!), his core message – “Yes we can” – was about the possibility of change and a better future. It seems at least plausible, then, that the optimistic tone of Obama’s campaign was especially appealing to young voters who were already strongly disposed to see the future in a positive light.

Whether or not this explanation stacks up, it’s at least a worthy reminder of the power of optimism as a motivating force. In many respects the world is in a mess, and there’s no sense in pretending otherwise. But that doesn’t mean that emphasising our problems is the best way to make people want to do something about them. When we think about the scale of the challenge, especially on environmental issues, it’s all too easy to come across as downbeat and negative. But for the unconverted, it’s a short step from here to apathy, and from there the merest hop over the border into nihilism.

So yes, let’s make be realistic about the difficulties we face now, but make sure we tell an optimistic story about what’s to come.

Green New Deal Round-Up

Andy Wimbush is nef’s Communications Assistant and blogmaster.

The Green New Deal Round-Up has an unsurprisingly American flavour this week, as pundits weigh up the economic and green credentials of the President-Elect, Barack Obama.

Van Jones – author of The Green Collar Economy - has seen hope in Obama for a while, predicting

You’re going to see something very interesting happen in American politics. We’ll call it the rise of the green Keynesians, the idea that the government is going to have to play a role in the economy, we’re going to have even more deficit spending to kind of stimulate the economy, to move us through.

Susan Watts did a short segment on Newsnight last Thursday, looking at Obama’s likely response to the climate change. There, in big letters across the screen, were the words: GREEN NEW DEAL. Watts points out how different Obama is to Bush on these matters, and how tackling climate change might also repair the economy.

There’s a brief mention of a GND in Time Magazine’s overview of the challenges which Obama faces. In the Independent, Johann Hari implores the President-Elect to ‘Paint your New Deal green‘. While over at the Huffington Post, Naomi Klein is sceptical that an Obama Green New Deal is even possible unless he calls a hault to ‘the Bush Administration’s final heist’, the ‘robbery in progress’, commonly known as the bail-out of the banks.

In the Times, Camilla Cavendish reflects upon the death of State of Fear author and climate change denialist Michael Crichton, noting ‘what an extraordinary intellectual shift there has been since 2004′. Urging President Obama to pursue a green new deal, she adds ‘this is the wrong time to hunker down in the old economy’. Anyone else for a new way of doing things?

And speaking of hunkering down, those old curmudgeons at the Economist are dismissive of all this green new deal chat. Their argument? That subsidies and government investment programmes are sometimes ill-advised (well, duh) and that the market really will get around to sorting out climate change (erm, no).

nef’s executive director, Stewart Wallis, once pointed out that one of the reasons that Chicago School economics caught on was because it went under catchy and uplifting names: you hear the words free markets, unfettered capitalism and neoliberalism and you think, ‘Freedom. Liberty. Those things sound great!’ But now, with the Green New Deal, environmentalists and new economists might have finally found a meme which stirs up public enthusiasm. In Tucson, Arizona, they can hardly wait to get started…

The West Wing, Obama, and the importance of seeding ideas

Juliet Michaelson is a researcher at nef’s centre for well-being.

The Obama victory is seen to represent the hope of achieving the seemingly unattainable: clearly an important symbol for organisations like nef whose primary objective is nothing less than changing the world. While part of the wonder of the moment comes from basking in the thought that “Only a few years ago, no one could have imagined that this was really possible”, there is an interesting sense in which this isn’t entirely true.

One of the most concrete ways in which America does imagine possible futures for itself is through that most American of art forms – high quality television drama. Two of the most popular American drama series that emerged early in the Bush era provide images of an African-American presidential candidate who overcomes adversity to win the presidency (24), and of an avowedly intellectual and highly-educated president whose intelligence is of more importance than his popular touch (The West Wing).