Emeritus Prof Christopher May

The #IPPR rightly follows Marianna Mazzucato & suggests that UK Govt. needs to invest directly in #greentehcnology;

as I've said before this make perfect sense; not only would it help accelerate the #greentransition, it would also pump-prime the UK's current lamentable #investment environment for #manufacturers...

Its a policy that the Labour Party should get behind.... its certainly a better use of #taxpayers money than subsidising #fossilfules (see earlier post)

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/23/uk-needs-dragons-den-approach-investing-net-zero-thinktank

UK needs Dragons’ Den approach to investing in net zero, says thinktank

IPPR wants government to take a stake in green technology firms to help Britain keep up with EU and US

The Guardian
Aug 23, 2023 at 6:06amWeb
Show threadKim Spence-Jones 🇬🇧😷Aug 23, 2023
@ChrisMayLA6 Except when it comes to basic research, I’m not a fan of supply-side support by governments. It inevitably seems to lead to corruption and distortion of the market. Far better to provide appropriate demand-side grants, and let the market decide how best to allocate the money. But maybe others can challenge my prejudice?
Show threadEmeritus Prof Christopher MayAug 23, 2023

@KimSJ

I think there's a lot resting here on what you man by 'let the market decide'; this could push us towards targeted tax relief(s) which (as has been shown again & again) are very easy to game.... the idea of direct support is that the Govt. can (and should) direct investment towards key areas;

but Mazzacuto's original point was the Govt. should operate like #VentureCapitalists & not put all their eggs in one basket & expect/allow some failures of investments; so, here the market decides

Show threadSteven HeywoodAug 23, 2023
@KimSJ @ChrisMayLA6
The market is typically not awfully good at creating infrastructure, the short-term good for the shareholders is required to outweigh the medium- long-term good for the company even before the nation gets a look-in, so ordinarily I would argue against you but it is increasingly apparent that our overcentralised and febrile mode of government can't do it either as the short-term good for tomorrow's headlines trumps the lot.
Show threadTC Won't Give In To LiesAug 23, 2023

@KimSJ @ChrisMayLA6
Literally decades of "let the consumer decide" has failed to bring the change widely agreed is needed

Why - because current energy providers are directly tied to oil and gas production and lose everything in the move to #GreenEnergy. So they slow-walk and sabotage the change.

In an existential threat like this, gov must drive the change. I'd like gov to go directly into #GreenEnergy production.

Show threadTC Won't Give In To LiesAug 23, 2023

@KimSJ @ChrisMayLA6
Let me elaborate on what I mean by "tied to oil and gas production"

Both countries (ex Saudi Arabia, Russia, etc) and companies via leases (ex Exxon, Shell, etc) have a business model based on extracting oil or gas from land they control.

It's their most important asset, by far. And #GreenEnergy makes it irrelevant.

That's why these companies can *never* lead the transition to #GreenEnergy. It's a lie to stall it.

Show threadKim Spence-Jones 🇬🇧😷Aug 23, 2023
@TCatInReality @ChrisMayLA6 You slightly misunderstand my position, perhaps. I’m not suggesting an undirected ‘let the consumer decide’. Demand-side intervention can be targeted: “you only get this money if you spend it on the kind of things we want you to spend it on”. To be fair, there are situations where this is inefficient (or just plain dumb) — in particular where the goods or services are or should be provided by the state, such as in healthcare.
Show threadTC Won't Give In To LiesAug 23, 2023

@KimSJ @ChrisMayLA6
Thanks for clarifying. And certainly, I agree on targeted consumer incentives.

But maybe my point is unclear too. The demand side is where the #fossilfuel industry literally has the world economy hostage. Witness the impact of Russia's aggression.

We simply *must* break that stranglehold by directly increasing #GreenEnergy supply. After decades of delay, it must be immediate and large scale ... Eg gov led.

Show threadKim Spence-Jones 🇬🇧😷Aug 23, 2023
@TCatInReality @ChrisMayLA6 I totally agree with your point. We can combine our objectives, by first removing all subsidies for fossil fuels, and secondly by subsidising good consumer choices. Home insulation, solar panels, switching to Green energy suppliers, etc could all easily be encouraged by a Government serious about meeting climate goals.
Show threadJohn RobinsonAug 23, 2023
@KimSJ @TCatInReality @ChrisMayLA6 👏👏👏
Show threadTC Won't Give In To LiesAug 23, 2023

@KimSJ @ChrisMayLA6
Absolutely!!! All that.

Plus, the gov can start building solar and wind farms on military and gov property.

Show threadRobCorneliusAug 23, 2023
@TCatInReality @KimSJ @ChrisMayLA6 Governments were bought by the energy and oil companies years ago.
Show threadTC Won't Give In To LiesAug 23, 2023

@robcornelius @KimSJ @ChrisMayLA6
True!

Yet remarkably, every few years we have the chance to replace them with people who aren't bought. That's one of the great things about democracy.

Show threadTC Won't Give In To LiesAug 23, 2023

@ChrisMayLA6
💯

And I'd go further. The gov should directly go into production of low margin #GreenEnergy

Every military base and every large gov building should be producing solar and wind power. A few large scale tidal project in publicly owned areas too

That will drive down the cost by increasing supply, increasing demand from parts and reducing profiteering.

The invasion of Ukraine was a missed opportunity to do this as a national defence necessity
#EnergyIndependenceIsGreen

Show threadRavensrod 🫖 🍰Aug 23, 2023
@TCatInReality @ChrisMayLA6
Can't see that happening, the politicians would loose their invitations to seats on the board of private energy companies when their constituents kick them out.
Show threadTC Won't Give In To LiesAug 23, 2023
@ravensrod @ChrisMayLA6
Those people should never be voted in to begin with.
Show threadRavensrod 🫖 🍰Aug 23, 2023
@TCatInReality @ChrisMayLA6
True, but the system is rigged to make getting elected too expensive for most ordinary decent people, so the greedy bastards can take their pick of the less scrupulous candidates. Most major companies contribute to both major parties to ensure they're represented whoever gets in.
Show threadTC Won't Give In To LiesAug 23, 2023
@ravensrod @ChrisMayLA6
Brilliant case for better legislation to reduce corruption. That would benefit society and democracy itself, not just the transition to #GreenEnergy
Show threadRavensrod 🫖 🍰Aug 23, 2023
@TCatInReality @ChrisMayLA6
Problem is The corrupt polititians would never pass legislation that would affect their chances of staying on the gravy train ☹️