Essay by Eric Worrall
According to the Bloomberg editorial team, leftists lost ground because they pandered to the right.
Climate Change Just Notched a Win in Europe
The European Union’s centrist leaders must learn their lessons and double down on achieving net zero.
21 June 2024 at 4:14 pm AEST
By The Editorial Board
The Editorial Board publishes the views of the editors across a range of national and global affairs.The European Union’s efforts to combat climate change have suffered an electoral blow. Its centrist leaders need to wake up before this setback clears the way for an environmental catastrophe.
Five years ago, voters in European Parliament elections demanded action to fight global warming. Now the “green wave” has subsided. In the latest elections, hard-right populist groups won more than a quarter of seats, up from about a fifth in the outgoing Parliament — in part by opposing the EU’s environmental policy and portraying its authors as elitist and out of touch. Support for Green candidates slid to 7% from 10%.
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Mere appeasement won’t coax voters back into the mainstream: If anything, it will cause more radicalization — just as catering to xenophobia strengthens far-right parties rather than easing concerns about immigration. Centrists committed to a united and prosperous Europe can’t prevail by partnering with those dedicated to its fragmentation.
On climate, Europe and the world must do more, not less. …
How, then, to proceed? Where the far right takes power, as it might soon in the French parliament, it’ll have to answer for itself. But as long as centrist parties are in charge — and they still command a majority in the European Parliament — they must stay the course on climate. That means doing what’s necessary to reach net zero while being more forthright about the costs and distributing them as fairly as possible. Expand carbon pricing to cover more emissions, and use the revenue to ease tax burdens. Dedicate EU-level funds and unify capital markets to support new public and private investment. Develop a better safety net to protect the most vulnerable.
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My first thought – someone needs to check the water supply in the Bloomberg building.
European voters didn’t reject the green left because Net Zero is working, they rejected Net Zero because European energy policy along with a lot of other policies is failing. Energy bills are stripping the wealth from the workers and lower middle class, factories are closing (Europeans call it “carbon leakage”), and the German economy in particular, once the powerhouse of Europe, is a faltering wreck.
Having said that, I really do think European leaders should double down on green policies.
Be done with hiding your Net Zero ambitions under the veil of sham political centrism. Let it all out, be free, close ALL the gas and coal plants, and give your remaining supporters a genuine taste of our green energy powered future. Run big publicity campaigns (while the electricity supply lasts), to ensure everyone everywhere knows these life changing policy settings are the fulfilment of the long march to European unity, and your utter determination to save the planet from climate change.
Your glorious act of political seppuku will be a far greater service to the planet than any of the economically illiterate policies you have supported over the years.
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