Education and the green revolution

The outlook for environmental policy looks progressively worse with the economic slowdown. There will be an inclination for politicians and policy-makers to hold back environmental legislation if it will cause losses of jobs or business closures. This would be a mistake. If legislators are continually reticent with implementing emissions policy improvements, the risk of policy being too little, too late grows. Commentary calling for economic stimulus packages to focus on green technologies haven’t been completely right either, however. Effective economic stimulus of the green sector will focus on non-technology specific methods – improving education is one possibility. While education has delayed effects, it will be necessary in the longer term. Because of this, increased support for education covering sustainability and clean technology needs to begin now.

Coverage has already appeared in the media discussing the likely setbacks to clean energy and emissions reduction due to the economic crisis. The response of environmentalists to the poor outlook is to call for government economic stimulus packages to focus on supporting clean and renewable technologies. Some elements of the proposed plans are on the money, such as expenditure on infrastructure such as improving freight and public transport networks and electricity grids. These will be effective at both stimulating the economy and reducing marginal costs to businesses. This will help reduce the risk of business closures due to the combined economic slowdown and impacts of emissions reductions policies. It will also improve the outlook for new green technology development and implementation.

More concerning are proposals for government spending directly in the green sector itself. This relies on able government selection of economically worthwhile projects – an area where there is cause for concern. Clear examples of poor government management of ‘green’ programmes are biofuel subsidies in the USA, and solar PV subsidies in Australia. Government support of the sector itself should be limited to providing support in non-selective ways. One example might be a scheme aimed at decreasing the difficulty in raising capital from the private sector in the current economic climate. Some direct spending might be warranted in cases where small expenditures might allow for pilot plants. However, this needs to be coupled with robust transparency and a clear benefit to the taxpayer (the obvious technique is for know-how gained through government spending to be publically available).

Improved education is a key area where economic stimulus could assist the green sector. A lot of discussion focuses on creation of green jobs, but equally important is providing workers with the skills required by the developing sector. Some government expenditure should focus on improving related high-school level subjects (mid-level maths, general sciences, and English), and towards a range of tertiary-level degrees (particularly science, engineering, law, and business) that include sustainable practices and green technology. This would go a long way towards providing the skilled workers necessary for a ‘green revolution’. It would also ensure that the graduates of tomorrow are not obsolete in a changing world. The high overall level of education in countries such as Sweden and Japan helped them to undergo rapid development and change in their economies in the past; forward-thinking nations will learn from this historical example.