Turn Again, Boris

I am distressed that Boris Johnson has once again fallen for the hype of "green jobs," saying

"I see the green economy as an unprecedented opportunity not only to improve our planet and our quality of life, but to develop new industries and create new jobs in an economic climate that is otherwise extremely difficult."

To give Boris the benefit of the doubt, this is wishful thinking.  Study after study of "the new energy economy" in the US demonstrates that green jobs are hype rather than reality.  Even an alliance of trade unions and green pressure groups admitted that what green jobs there are in the US are of low quality (of course the solution to that, the report claims, is strong unions).  The truth seems to be dawning even in California.

That's the US, of course, but there's a new study out from King Juan Carlos University in Spain that examines the effect of policies aimed at promoting green jobs there.  Prof. Gabriel Calzada found that for every green job created, 2.2 jobs were lost in traditional industries.  I also understand that the study (there isn't an English version available on line yet as far as I can tell) points out that the jobs that were created were mostly transitory, and that 40,000 jobs are expected to be lost in the solar industry this year.

This should, of course, be blindingly obvious.  I don't think anyone has summed up the green job mythologising better than Catherine Bennett in The Guardian, of all places, back in 2004, satirising the thinking of HRH the Prince of Wales:

"In short, if we can rise to the challenge, the permanent abolition of the wheel would have the marvellously 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."

Don't fall for the hype.  Turn again, Boris, before it's too late!