In a bid to match President Biden’s Green New Deal and shift the economy towards net zero emissions by 2050, the Labour party pledged to spend £28bn annually as part of a major strategic investment package. However, the vague nature of the plan and concerns about its feasibility led to intense debate within the party. Ultimately, Labour has now dropped the pledge, prompting discussions about the potential short-term political gains versus the long-term implications for meeting Britain’s international green commitments.
Germany is facing a fiscal crisis as its constitutional court rules that the government's plan to fund green projects through emergency borrowing violates the country's balanced-budget amendment. The coalition government is struggling to find alternative methods of funding green priorities, leading to a political crisis. Meanwhile, in the US, the Biden administration's push for widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is criticized as an expensive fantasy. Research shows that EVs have benefited from hidden subsidies, with costs ultimately borne by gasoline vehicle owners, taxpayers, and utility ratepayers. The adoption of EVs would require significant and expensive grid upgrades, and their impact on global emissions and climate change would be negligible. Additionally, the emissions associated with EV battery production and the sourcing of materials are largely unreported. Both Germany and the US face challenges in their green energy policies, with Germany grappling with fiscal constraints and the US lacking spending constraints altogether.
