The Environmental Union?

Iain MurraySenior Fellow, CEIThe Bruges Group ConferenceNovember 22, 2008

The Foreign Secretary Speaks!

“An environmental contract has to stretch beyond each nation – we have to embed a shared willingness to tackle climate change across Europe and beyond. This is a challenge that the European Union was designed for: addressing global problems that require cooperation across borders. Europe has a strong environmental record on which to build. From air pollution and water quality to recycling. But in future, we should go further. It’s raison d’etre in the 21st century must be to prevent the exploitation of the planet. The European Union must become the Environmental Union. “

--David Miliband MP, October 19, 2006

The Environmental Union?

EU has failed in all its supposed environmental ambitions

It has imposed costs upon the world It has created subprime jobs It has restricted real environmental

improvement

How has Kyoto Done?

95%

100%

105%

110%

115%

120%

125%

U.S. World Kyoto

GHG Emissions from 1997-2004

1997-2004

Is Emissions Reduction Easy?

The Real Cost of Global Warming

Another Example: REACH

Most expansive extension of chemical regulation ever

Global enforcement of precautionary principle

Protectionist – reduces US access to EU markets

Feeder for UN Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management

US States eg New Jersey trying to implement

Green Subsidies? Spanish Example(Hat-tip: Gabriel Calzada)

The EU wants 12% renewable energy in 2010 and 20% in 2010

Spain has been a leader in promoting “renewable energy” Wind subsidies: 90% over market price

for 15 years then 80% over (This has varied from 136 to 209% since 2007)

Solar subsidies: 575% over market for 25 years then 460%

12 to 20% return on investment

Spanish Renewables Bubble

Spanish companies become world leaders

25,965 MW installed in “special regime”

Wind energy has largest share: 14,577 MW (10.2%)

Solar energy has 1000 MW (0.7%). The 2010 target was 371 MW

Spanish Renewables Bubble

Big production means jobs: 27,000 in the solar sector alone since 2004

In 2007 alone the renewable subsidies account for 2.6 billion Euros

Spanish Bubble Unsustainable

Miguel Sebastian declared renewable energies are “green and clean but very costly” .“Last year the premiums paid sum up 2000 millions while this year will be 3000”.

The government had to reduce by 30% the subsidy to solar energy and placed a cap of 300 new solar MW (1/2 of what has been installed from January till May 2008)

Now the Spanish green industry is falling down and going abroad to find more generous governments willing to give away taxpayers´ money

Green Job…Losses

The softening of the renewable support in 2007 brought about 10,000 job losses

This year’s softening threatens to result in 40,000 new green unemployees

Subprime Jobs!!!

The sector companies calculated they will have to fire over 40% of the workers

The sector generates almost no stable jobs (installation and construction)

The only way to generate jobs in this field is by creating artificially produced expectations

EU Promises on Climate

• “Will reduce warming”? NO!

• “Will reduce CO2 emissions”? NO!

• “Will be done at low cost”? NO!

• “Will create jobs”? NO!

Is There An Alternative?

Yes, but it involves the free market Will be of benefit to the economy

whatever happens Will reduce bureaucracy Will help the developing world …therefore no chance of ever being

adopted by the EU!

Focused Adaptation

Main risks of global warming: hunger, disease, sea level rise, water stress, biodiversity

Halting global warming is an expensive way of tackling these problems

Goklany (2008): halting global warming reduce hunger, disease and sea level rise by 4-10 percent by 2085, but increase water stress and biodiversity problems at a cost of much more than $165 billion annually for many years

Focused adaptation could reduce each of these problems by 50-75% by 2015 at a cost of less than $34 billion annually, and also provide benefits in terms of child mortality, literacy etc.

Resiliency

Wealthier societies manage disasters better

1955: Hurricane Janet, category 5, hits Mexico – 600 people killed

2007: Hurricane Dean, category 5, hits Mexico in exact same place – no-one killed

2005: Hurricane Katrina, category 5, hits most vulnerable place in America and kills 1,836

2008: Cyclone Nargis, category 4, hits Burma and kills at least 84,500

The EU Climate Policy in a Nutshell

“In short, if we can rise to the challenge, the permanent abolition of the wheel would have the marvelously synergistic effect of creating thousands of new jobs - as blacksmiths, farriers, grooms and so on - at the same time as it conserved energy and saved the planet from otherwise inevitable devastation.”-- Catherine Bennett, The Guardian, 2004

For more information

The Really Inconvenient Truths on AmazonThe PIG to Global Warming on Amazonhttp://www.globalwarming.orghttp://cei.orghttp://planetgore.nationalreview.com