Paul Middleton, author of A Brief Guide to the End of Oil, has written this piece for us about how Britain's attitude towards energy consumption has changed under Blair's governance; and what the future holds for Britain under Brown.
So Mr. Blair is off, a man determined to watch the sun go down on his decade in power with a cheesy grin and a firmly held belief that Britain, and indeed the rest of the world, is better off than when he started. And while it is true that we have – and here the royal we refers only to Brits – enjoyed a sustained period of economic growth does it follow that Mr. Blair’s legacy will be un-ending economic joy? Of course not. Legacy is not so much about the past but the future; it is something that is handed down to the next generation. But what is it that we’re getting?
Well, when it comes to energy what we’re getting is oil, gas and coal dependence. That’s not say that there hasn’t been a good deal of rhetoric about ‘green alternatives’ and the need to diversify out of hydrocarbons; there’s been lots of that. But the truth is that our consumption of oil is growing and not diminishing. We’re flying more, driving more and generally living out the dream of a high energy consumption lifestyle.
But how much of that is Mr. Blair’s fault? Well not a great deal if I’m honest. Mr. Blair and the Labour party inherited our highly developed and very expensive energy and transport infrastructure and changing it, even with the best will in the world, takes at least four times longer than Mr. Blair’s been in power. And legislating against things that people believe is their God-given-right (owning a car, flying all over the world, and the like) is hardly a vote winner.
Neither of course is being best mates with a Texas oil man who happens to be in charge of the most powerful country in the world, particularly when he decides its time to ‘secure’ the second largest oil reserves in world by invading a sovereign state.
Having said all that Mr. Blair has had some success, the climate change bill will, for example, make the UK government's long-term goal of a 60% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 a legally binding target. And the "Carbon Committee", set-up to ensure the target is met, sounds like a jolly good idea.
Compared to the in-coming Mr. Brown, Blair looks positively pro-oil. He was the champion of the 10% supplementary tax imposed on UK oil producers in 2002, stating when criticized by the industry that, “the fact of the matter is that over the last two years, the oil price has moved from an average of $25 to $55. That has meant that the oil producers have had a huge increase in the profits that are available to them," Nice one.
Mr. Brown has also stated that he wants to bring the environmental challenge – and that means the oil and energy challenge - to the centre of policy. Britain has just called for the first global emissions trading scheme to cut carbon emissions at the UN in New York and has proposed a new $20bn (£11bn) facility for diversifying the supply of energy to developing countries funded by the World Bank. Mr. Brown clearly supports higher energy prices too and the idea that this will encourage the development of new cleaner sources of energy and conservation of existing resources. Quite a change from Mr. Blair, and that, to me, sounds like a legacy worth having.
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