Populism could derail the green transition
"Western politicians are scared of a backlash against #ClimateChange policies that have been sold as good for the economy."
#NetZero goals are perceived to be championed by elites while for the ordinary person, the cost of the transition is too high.
https://www.ft.com/content/b9912ffe-08dd-4653-863c-21885d727d20
"Rural voter anger at #NewZealand's environmental policies to tackle #ClimateChange and reduce #CarbonEmissions may contribute to a return of right-wing parties to power at an Oct. 14 election, a shift that could diminish the country's green image."
"The strikes and the EV transition in general are hastening a moment of reckoning for the Democratic party. The wealthy coastal progressives who drive the Teslas that represent 60 per cent of all EVs sold in the US often care more about fixing climate change than labour rights. But if the Republican party nominates Trump and he wins, neither the planet nor workers will be safer. "
https://www.ft.com/content/bda59c3b-3038-450d-a0e1-46cd2654a555
If you want to avoid climate policy backlash, you must put social justice at the center of your #climate policy.
Demanding everyone puts heat pumps in their house if they can't afford them invites backlash.
Asking auto workers to support the EV transition while you don't have their back invites backlash.
Expecting farmers to suddenly do things differently invites backlash.
Levying a fee for entering a #ULEZ zone without providing viable alternatives to travel by car invites backlash.
You need to bring everyone along. An example of doing it right:
When Spain closed down their last coal mines in 2018, they spent €250 million on :
- early retirement for miners over the age of 48,
- restorative environmental measures in coal communities
- retrain coal miners to begin working with safer, more modern green technologies."
These mines were closed without a fight. (I mean, did you even hear about the closures?)
Good start:
"#Biden’s decision to join the #strike would be remarkable on its own. Beyond the obvious symbolism, his presence there lends tangible material support to workers’ demands, handing the union leverage over companies that might otherwise reasonably assume he’d have their backs.
It could also usher in a broader shift in the way he and other Democrats talk about #climate policy."
#UAWstrike
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/29/biden-auto-strike-uaw-climate-crisis
"Properly implemented, [a #JustTransition] enables governments and other stakeholders to avoid a backlash from the wider population as they seek to enact sweeping and necessary change."
"The #unions behind California Labor for Climate Jobs represent teachers, utility workers, farmworkers, janitors and more. Their initial policy platform, the #California Workers’ Climate Bill of Rights, urges policymakers to invest in safety nets for oil and gas industry employees, including #healthcare coverage and relocation, and to fund #training programs that prepare those employees for similarly well-paying union jobs in climate-friendly fields."
"While there’s rising demand for people to build electric cars, construct solar farms, or upgrade insulation, it will take a concerted effort to help people working in coal power plants or building diesel trucks fill those vacancies."
#JustTransition
https://www.vox.com/climate/2023/10/30/23938581/ev-uaw-strike-gm-ford-stellantis-clean-energy
"#Michigan Gov. Gretchen #Whitmer is set to sign a package of bills that would transition the state to 100 percent #CleanElectricity by 2040. The bills include robust provisions for workers & are among the most ambitious efforts undertaken by any state to move toward a carbon-free future in a manner that is actively good for working people. Significantly, Democrats are testing this approach in a swing state in the heart of the industrial Midwest."
#JustTransition
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/11/17/gretchen-whitmer-michigan-green-energy/
Six #climate and #energy bills are multi-prong approach to bring clean energy to #MIchigan, fast.
"#Whitmer said the bills will lower household utility costs by an average of $145 a year, create 160,000 “good-paying” jobs, and bring nearly $8 billion of federal tax dollars home to Michigan for #CleanEnergy projects. "
"President Joe #Biden’s landmark #climate law is driving outsized #CleanEnergy funding into low-income, less-educated and fossil fuel towns, according to a new analysis the Treasury Department released Wednesday.
The study found that so-called energy communities — those with historical ties to #FossilFuel industries like coal — have seen some of the fastest growth in these investments."
@CelloMomOnCars I did hear about this - I love how sensible and pragmatic it is! There was an ABC foreign correspondent piece about it… https://youtu.be/pMPU8d4-eYk?si=H1y6rDrbl1YqrvS9
@CelloMomOnCars
I mean your point is right and all but I have a folder on my laptop with Solidarity With Spanish Miners flyers from 2010 or something.
There was a *massive* fight, the miners struck and marched from Asturias to Madrid, it was news for weeks.
They got the things they got because they fought for them and they fought *hard*. Barricades and all sorts.
@priryo @CelloMomOnCars @onepict all sorts including those homemade rocket launchers we all saw on Youtube
That massive fight was under Rajoy, the (very) conservative PM.
This coal mine closure was under Sanchez, the PM from the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party.
It shows you how elections matter.
@CelloMomOnCars @priryo @onepict alternatively it shows how the militant struggles in 2011-12 laid the groundwork for a more just transition in 2018?
@CelloMomOnCars — I would so love to see her running for president right now.
@CelloMomOnCars Well, people in northern Spain CRIED this year when coal-powered power plants were blown out.
Because that was a symbol of their towns and villages disappearing forever as coal industry disappeared.