Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach
This story is from the “you can’t make this stuff up” file. Some of our British cousins have figured out a way to solve it all. They have set up the One Million Jobs Caravan, as part of a “Campaign Against Climate Change” … I’m not sure how they plan to stop the climate from changing, but apparently it takes a million people to do it. To fight against CO2 emissions, the backers plan to get into fossil-fueled vehicles and drive, the lot of them, from city to city all around England and Scotland. And then back again.
Now, the numbers out of Spain have shown that for every green job created, two regular jobs were destroyed. And the “green jobs” campaign in the US has been a resounding failure. So I was quite curious as to just how these green jobs were going to be created. I also wondered about the involvement of the trade unions called the CWU, the UCU, and the like.
I found out the campaign backers were proposing to create the jobs the old-fashioned way …
… I cannot improve on their own words …
… the mind boggles … the solution to the UK economic crisis, and the way to end the persistent nuisance of the climate inconsiderately changing all the time, is to add a million “secure, flexible, permanent” union workers building wind farms to the UK government’s permanent welfare rolls.
These folks would be funny if they weren’t so dangerous.
Meanwhile, here in California we just found out that we’re unexpectedly $16,000,000,000 dollars in the hole in this year’s budget, from things like paying union teachers and state bureaucrats and functionaries princely salaries while they are working and then paying them very large pensions for the rest of their lives. Oh, and did I mention business-unfriendly? Eighth year in a row, California was voted worst state to do business in by a poll of CEOs …
However, I hear that there is budgetary hope regarding the California Department of Transportation, which maintains the roads. It seems that they’ve invented a machine that can idly lean on a shovel, promising big savings in labor costs, which is good news … bad news is, I hear the machines have already formed the MWU, the Machine Workers Union, and they’ve stopped leaning on their shovels and joined the One Million Jobs Caravan …
w.
Thanks for this one, Willis. I live in the UK (in Melton Mowbray, where those “porkie pies” are made) but, truly, I haven’t seen this reported here, yet. The comments seem to cover everything one could say, except that a Scottish analysis showed that 2.7 real jobs were lost for every “green” one created.
The Climate Jobs Caravan plan is absolutely doable.
One minor detail is to pay the Green Workers in a new currency called GreenBucks (GG). The government can print GG 50 billion each year, paying each of the first million GW’s GG 50,000 per year. The GW’s can use the GG’s to trade among themselves.
As the number of GW’s increases to include all of the population, the trade in GG’s would include all of the population. Everyone would be employed and very comfortably well off trading with each other at the end of each government workday.
sophocles –
Amy will sort out California:
14 May: Forbes: Amy Westervelt: Why Investors Should Be Paying Attention to California’s Carbon Auction
After numerous attempts to stop its cap-and-trade law (AB32), and more than one delay of the law’s implementation, California is finally preparing for its first carbon auction. The results of that auction–there will be a “practice” auction in August, with the first real auction scheduled for November–are likely to determine the fate of carbon regulation in the United States and, perhaps more importantly, the value placed on carbon in the U.S. marketplace…
Over time, the number of companies included in the cap-and-trade program, and the auctions, will increase, and the number of allocations allotted will be driven down, necessitating further emissions reductions and/or the purchase of more allocations on the market. Some companies and utilities will be looking to buy advance allocations as well–these are allocations priced at today’s market rate, but which cannot be used until 2015. Those companies that know they will need to buy more allocations and want to lock in today’s carbon price may opt to stockpile advance allocations…
There is one remaining political squabble: Under California’s Proposition 13, anything that could reasonably be described as a tax must be approved by two-thirds of voters. AB32 was passed by voters, and Proposition 123, which aimed to kill AB32, was voted down by 62 percent of the state’s voters, but it did not get two-thirds of voters’ approval. That means any money raised by the bill will need to be tied directly to greenhouse gas reductions or else risk being frozen by opponents to cap and trade. While some of the Governor’s initial plans to use the auction revenue to help fund high-speed rail may pass muster, others–namely using the funds to beef up the state’s ailing General Fund–would certainly not.
Irrespective of what happens with the auction’s revenues, however, California is likely to set the stage for federal carbon regulation, no matter who wins the next election or which party controls Congress. “California has put into place the first real market system that lashes the markets to climate change solutions,” says Larry Goldenhersh, CEO of environmental ERP software provider Enviance, which is working with companies such as Valero, Chevron, and PG&E to prepare for the shift in California. ”The results will determine whether we have federal cap and trade in the next five years. It doesn’t matter who’s elected.”…
“There’s been a whole raft of greenhouse gas emissions regulations passed in the last few years and if Obama is elected I think we can expect to see the drumbeat of ever-increasing greenhouse gas regulatory pressure continue,” Goldenhersh says. “By mid-term, industry will demand a national solution that puts a market solution in place. If you were to poll utilities right now, I think you would find that most of them want a price on carbon so that they can pass it on to their rate payers and make a financial plan around this stuff.”
The California experiment will have an impact if Romney is elected, as well, according to Goldenhersh. “If Romney wins I think you’ll see a reluctance to reverse any of the greenhouse gas regulations already in place,” he says. “If you research Governor Romney, yes he said recently that the EPA is out of control and appears to be a tool to crush private enterprise, but he also launched greenhouse gas legislation in Massachusetts, which set a short term goal of reducing greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2010 and which he labeled as the ‘no regrets policy towards climate change.’ He is also on record as saying mankind has contributed to climate change and we need to do something about it. Romney is conflicted on climate.”…
Either way, with many U.S. companies already dealing with a price on carbon in California, plus a patchwork of federal greenhouse gas regulations, Goldenhersh is hearing from his customers that they want some sort of federal, market-based solution…
That’s good news for data management companies like Enviance (and others, such as SAP and OsiSoft), which will be tapped to help companies track and analyze their emissions…
http://www.forbes.com/sites/amywestervelt/2012/05/14/why-investors-should-be-paying-attention-to-californias-carbon-auction/
five minutes ago, there was a single comment calling it a lot of bureacratic hocus pocus, but i guess it has been “called out” by Amy or Forbes, cos it has disappeared.
Amy’s busy SOLVING the climate and travelling!
Amy Westervelt is the Managing Editor of Earth Island Journal and a columnist for SolveClimate. Amy also has written guides for Fodor’s and Great Destinations, and her magazine work has been published in Conde Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, San Francisco Chronicle, Spa and Allure, among others. In 2007, Amy won a Folio Eddie for her feature on the potential of algae-based biofuels, which was published in Sustainable Industries magazine. When she’s not hustling to cover environment or travel stories, Amy’s hiding out in Oakland.
http://www.thefastertimes.com/about/?u=amywestervelt3
In China, a ‘big idea’ like this was known as the Great Leap Forward – one of the most catastrophic economic policies of all time.
And later when China decided to try good old fashioned capitalism……………………………
It being first thing in the morning, when I first saw this I thought it said “Climate Joke Caravan”. After reading the article, I conclude that it should have said that.
Perhaps one day it will again be possible for me not to feel ashamed of my country.
It is easy to make fun of such nonsense. But, we shouldn’t have the jokes let down our guard and try to laugh it away. These people are serious, very serious. Unfortunately, the consequences of their folly is paid for by the hard work of taxpayers. Disturbing.
Oh great! Another crazy idea – and another excuse for a bunch of green zealots to misinform and scare the public…….I despair, I really do…….
Combined wealth of the 1,226 billionaire’s world-wide in 2012 is $4.6 trillion.
Eurostat data shows, the euro-zone government debt totaled 8.215 trillion Euros (24 Apr 2012).
If they took 100% of all the wealth from 100% of the billionaires in the entire world they would still owe over 4 trillion Euros.
They need to start generating inexpensive electricity, re-start mining, forestry and heavy manufacturing and get on with the job of generating wealth like they did 50 years ago; a ‘clean’ service and government employment economy that just moves the same money around in a circle while some it is siphoned off to places that have inexpensive electricity, mining and manufacturing has failed completely.
They have run out of the 50 year old money and ‘Taxing the rich’ is not going to solve it.
we are earth’s “bad houseguests”:
14 May: MSNBC: Stephanie Pappas: Report: Global biodiversity down 30 percent in 40 years
Freshwater tropical species hardest hit, says World Wildlife Fund
Colby Loucks, the director of conservation sciences at WWF, compared humanity to bad houseguests.
“We’re emptying the fridge, we’re not really taking care of the lawn, we’re not weeding the flower beds and we’re certainly not taking out the garbage,” Loucks said. [ 50 Amazing Facts About Earth ]
Related: Most mammals won’t flee climate change fast enough…
But humanity is essentially in debt to Mother Earth, conservationists find…
In other words, it takes the planet 1.5 years to restore what humanity burns through in a year. (The organization Global Footprint Network marks “Earth Overshoot Day” every year to draw attention to how fast humans use natural resources…
In order from most to least, the top 10 greediest resource users per capita are: …
Many of the group’s proposed solutions to humanity’s out-of-control resource use center around Rio+20, the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development set for June 20, 2012…
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/47421743/ns/technology_and_science-science/
Tsk Tsk says: “I could explain more but I have a window someone just broke with a thrown rock to go fix.”
It was probably those little bastiats next door.
Instead of the Government paying the 1 million workers in cash they are each going to get a villa in Greece.
This is all imaterial anyway as money becomes a thing of the past, bartering will be the new currency if the perfect storm breaks shore:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/9263196/World-edges-closer-to-deflationary-slump-as-money-contracts-in-China.html
More worryingly, how many people signed the petition? I couldn’t get the link to work.
It’s you American cousins that have a problem, you just don’t understand our English sense of humour.
Frank K. says:
May 14, 2012 at 6:56 pm
Ah, but I have a solution for the intrepid climateers!
They need to take their climate caravan to Climate Mountain, where the magic climate money trees grow….
___________________________
Do you mean this money tree? I think someone else got to it first.
The Campaign Agaianst Climate Change are infamous.
They have a ‘Deniers’ Photo Hall of Shame…..
http://www.campaigncc.org/hallofshame
And they organise activists – Sceptic Alerts, a adaily email to troll sceptical blogs and newspapers comments, most heavily targeted are Bishop Hill, Jamed Delingpole and Christopher Booker.
http://www.campaigncc.org/node/384
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2010/4/19/skeptic-alerts.html
http://www.realclimategate.org/2010/11/bishop-hill-targeted-sceptic-alerts/
ZT says:
May 14, 2012 at 9:47 pm
Remind me again – what happens after a period of idiotic borrowing, currency collapses, and inflation?
“Change we can believe in.”
500,000 with spoons to dig 100ft holes.
500,000 with spoons to fill in 100ft holes.
Sorted.
Judging by the official photo, the obligatory Head-Tilt of Compassionate Compassion ( http://timblair.spleenville.com/archives/007772.php ) has been supplanted by the Forward-Lean of Mindless Enthusiasm.
Jonathan Smith says:
May 14, 2012 at 8:20 pm
Just read this:
clivebest says:
May 14, 2012 at 7:10 pm
Pure genius, and you know what, it would be a much more reliable way to generate power than windmills or solar panels. In cold weather, leave the gym windows open and the cyclists will pedal faster to keep warm which will generate more power to meet the higher demand. The more you look into this idea the better it becomes.
__________________________________
I have been suggesting something similar for a while now using tread mills and school kids. Cuts the cost of Ritilan too. Think of all those potentially obese kids or kids with ADHD. Lets harness that kid power. If the kid is a discipline problem the teacher can just shift the gears on the kid’s tread mill or exercise cycle and make him work harder for the allotted time. Heck chain them in like they did oarsmen on slave galleys…
@jonathon & Gail
If the work got too boring then half the workforce could be assigned to Plan B: – Methane Capture and Storage – MCS ! The UK government would need to mass produces special diapers for cows, each with a large inflatable balloon to “capture” their rear-end emissions. The half million workers would then be trained to chase the 10 million cows across the british countryside to exchange the full balloons for empty ones ! Natural gas from f**ting not fracking.
Apologies for silliness !
…. and another thing – why are a few blokes wearing hard hats? Has someone let it out that the sky really is falling down?
As has been noted, they wish to create all Government-funded jobs. Notice the sponsors of this? All Unions.
Since Union membership has been drastically reduced, over the past 25+ years, with many Unions amalgamating, leading to loss of jobs for those running them & loss of revenue for the Labour Party (The Unions, via “tithes” from their members, largely fund the Labour Party).
Not absolutely sure, but I think you have 2 studies conflated. The Spanish post-mortem found about 2.2 private jobs lost per green job, but the Scottish and Danish studies found 3.7 per.
Don’t worry the wheels will fall off when they hit some of the pot holes in the British roads, unless they are planning a route that takes them from one Olympic venue to another then they may get a bit further.
James Bull
I wish someone would come up with a figure for all the ‘climate jobs’ that already exist in the UK. I mean all the people responsible in every organisation with a ‘responsibility’ for climate change in their job description. This in itself would be an eye opener.
Then ask….what do they produce ? At what cost… and what difference would there be if they simply evaporated.
BTW, that clause about guaranteeing a job in the scheme to anyone losing his job because of it has dramatic results. Even taking the lowball 2 lost per new gov’t job added, that produces tripling of the scheme each hiring cycle (say, 2 months; original plus 2X as many more). So in one year it goes from 1 million to 3^6 million, That’s 729 million.
Should be enough!!