Thank you to my friend @RepAndyLevin for taking the lead on this. When we met with EU climate leaders this week, much of our conversation was about how we ensure that people who worked in the fossil fuel industry aren't stranded in the clean energy transition. A few thoughts:
https://twitter.com/RepAndyLevin/status/1441506407333851137
1/ First, the clean energy transition is coming whether we like it or not. The job of policy is to make sure it comes as quickly as the climate crisis demands. But clean energy is cheap energy, and markets prefer cheap.
2/ Second the fossil sector - like all industries - has always invested in labor productivity that has enhanced their capital recovery even as it reduced their labor input. (See: longwall mining for example.)
3/ We have not, however, historically prioritized the interests of those displaced workers. The decline of job prospects in Appalachia started long before the decline in coal demand, after all.
4/ What we are asking in this transition is that we don't repeat that mistake. Massive wealth will be created as we transition to cheaper energy. Massive wealth will be transferred from energy producers to energy consumers.
5/ Our moral obligation is to do what prior investments in labor productivity didn't do, and make sure we equitably allocate the GAINS of this transition. Proud to stand with @RepAndyLevin and my colleagues in pushing to make sure we do so. / fin
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
