Tuesday 19 May 2009

Climate change tomfoolery

From the FT:

Jack Dromey, deputy secretary general of Unite union, will ask for millions of pounds in investment to save wind-turbine manufacturing ... Last month the Danish wind company [sic] Vestas said it would close its factories on the Isle of Wight and Southampton... Mr Dromey said the closures would be "a disaster" for government attempts to boost "green-collar jobs" in manufacturing and services for renewable energy. It would damage the country’s prospects of generating more energy from low-carbon sources, he said.

So far so good, that's a large part of what trade unions do - ask for government subsidies. As long as the government politely but firmly tells them 'No', then there's no harm done*. It's amusing that they're dressing this up as 'low-carbon' thing - a couple of months ago the very same trade union launched a national campaign to save car and manufacturing jobs.

But I digress. The highlight of the article must be this:

Union leaders also want improved access to the electricity grid for wind farms, which at present can wait months or even years for a connection to be built.

* In this present case, the government has every intention of squandering £9 billion a year on EU-inspired 'low-carbon' nonsense anyway, so what's a few million between friends?

1 comments:

AntiCitizenOne said...

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."- Ronald Reagan