Where I live in the US, utility bills surged during the winter, and someone I know who is a Republican blamed renewables. However, the state I live in has the largest number of data centers of all US states, and electricity consumption from data centers is what drove up the cost of power during that period. It wasn’t solar power or wind power. The clean, renewable electricity and energy efficiency industries support many jobs around the world and actually make a great deal of money, but they often drive costs down by cutting fuel costs. A new report found over 10 billion British pounds were generated by net zero-related industries in Scotland, and these industries support over 105,000 jobs there. There are about 3,000 businesses participating in Scotland’s net-zero economy, according to the report, which was commissioned by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) with analysis from CBI Economics and The Data City. According to the same report, net-zero jobs there pay about 5 percent more than the average salary in Scotland. “It’s hugely encouraging to see the sheer scale of the opportunities afforded to Scotland by the net zero economy. Scotland has been at the heart of the UK’s energy sector for half a century and is now rightly taking its place at the forefront of the clean energy transition,” said Michelle Ferguson, CBI Scotland Director. “With businesses of all sizes playing a key role, the net zero economy has the potential to bring long-term jobs, investment and growth to communities right across the country. Getting this right is critical to boosting energy security and delivering on our ambitions for growth.” There is a myth or sometimes a lie told by some Republicans or conservatives that environmental programs are “bad for the economy.” In fact, there are millions of people who work in the renewable energy economy around the world and their work generates a tremendous amount of economic value. The people who do green jobs can be credited for their contributions, which are considerable, rather than dismissing them and their work. They do work that might not be well understood or appreciated, but that does create value. And it is future-facing in a time when the world needs to transition away from fossil fuels. Forward-looking government policies can support sustainability and good jobs at the same time. “Approximately £211 billion of planned UK energy infrastructure investment is located in Scotland, representing 34% of the UK’s total pipeline value and 88 GW of capacity. Major projects across offshore wind, grid reinforcement and storage infrastructure illustrate how nationally contracted capacity translates into local development activity.” Energy independence is an excellent economic goal for many countries that currently send billions of dollars (or the equivalent in another currency) out of their economies each year to pay too much for imported fossil fuels.
Liked by Henry Green, Justin TurnerLiked by Henry Green, Justin Turner
Liked by Henry Green, Justin Turner
