$16 Billion Won't Buy a Green Industrial Revolution
Some of the prime minister’s new environmental targets are ambitious. But following the money doesn’t get you far.
Time for a revolution.
Photographer: Aaron Chown/POOL/AFP
Boris Johnson’s new 10-point “green industrial revolution” for tackling climate change shows this government is capable of big thinking, in case anyone watching Brexit was wondering. Unfortunately, the prime minister’s budget spend of 12 billion pounds ($15.9 billion) doesn’t live up to the overall ambition of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The plan lists a series of ambitious targets, such as banning diesel and gas cars from 2030, investing in nuclear and hydrogen power technologies, and installing 600,000 heat pumps every year. It pledges to create 250,000 jobs, many in the poorer, industrial north of the country.