Rethinking Lifestyle

The recent mailing from our MP again stated it clearly, “The top priority for the Conservative Government is to promote job creation and economic growth.” Last week our finance minister said it: “We want to have jobs and growth, now and in the future.”

This sounds so attractive, so good, that we rarely stop to think about what this means. But we need to consider this critically because not all jobs are equal; not all growth is equal. There are green jobs, and not so green jobs. There is green economic growth and black (or perhaps red) economic growth.

A job that results in greater consumption of oil will likely contribute to economic growth and boost GDP. An agricultural activity that results in the production of more food by mining the earth of its resources will contribute to economic growth and boost GDP. But effectively both of these activities diminish the wealth of the planet, and if we won’t feel it, our children will. A job that can only be sustained by reducing inventory is not really a job. We all know it is not sustainable.

These days so much energy, both human and fossil, goes into the production of widgets – devises and stuff we find highly desirable, yet it does not contribute to our wellbeing. Having just passed through another Christmas buying orgy, this is a good time to think about this. How much of the December shopping was for widgets that contributed minimally to well being, yet diminished the wealth of the planet?

There is one kind of job, typified perhaps by bicycle construction. This job has value because the bicycle, in the hands of the right person, greatly increases his mobility. Another kind of job is to build a car. There is a similarity between a bicycle and a car in that both, in the hands of the right person greatly increase mobility. However, there is a key difference between the cyclist and the car driver. The cyclist increases his mobility without drawing energy from anywhere else.  The car driver, on the other hand, increases his mobility only by drawing in massive amounts of fossil energy. It is for this reason that building and riding bicycles is green, whereas building and driving cars is not.

A government intent on increasing jobs, without specifying what kind of jobs it is promoting, is missing the mark. Potentially there are many jobs similar to that of bicycle construction and bicycle riding. To find them just requires imagination. The biggest killer of these jobs is cheap fossil energy. In order for these jobs to emerge, the cost of energy will need to increase. Government can effect the growth of green jobs simply by shifting taxes from income to energy use. In a small way, British Columbia is doing this. Alternately, if it is preferred, revenue gained through a carbon tax can be returned to taxpayers as a dividend. The money remains in the economy, but energy efficiency is rewarded.