The Economist: Welcome to the Green Blob

By Richard Black, Director Twitter Published:19 January 2015

By Richard Black, ECIU Director The Economistcan be a confusing publication. Calls itself a newspaper, but comes out only weekly and consists largely of analyses compiled from facts already in the public domain? What’s that about? And what's with those blank bylines? But sometimes, it puts out a set of articles that reminds you why it matters – why it is that even in the internet-wired, Project Syndicate age, sober readers on both sides of the Atlantic and both sides of the left-right divide still turn to it for a definitive, thoroughly researched, state-of-the-art digest of a given field. Last week’s look at energy is one such example. If you haven’t read it, make it your first job this week; if you don’t subscribe, beg or borrow a copy from a friend. Summarising the ingredients of such a comprehensive offering is a tall order, but it goes something like this:

Is the call to end fossil fuel subsidies going mainstream? Image: Creative Commons Licence theverb.org

Is the sun going down over the oil and gas sector? Image: Creative Commons Licence Pete Markham

The profound changes in the energy sector, such as the advancing tide of renewables, are documented most diligently by specialist publications such as BusinessGreen. Investor-focused media such as the Financial Times have caught up fast; but where, for example, is the BBC on these issues? When the Today Programme on Friday morning discussed the poor short-term outlook for the North Sea oil and gas industry, where were the arguments that a) long-term energy trends are moving away from fossil fuels, and b) solving climate change requires leaving most oil in the ground? Where is the big documentary series on the future of the energy industry, the different models being explored in various parts of the world, and the implications that these massive changes carry for British businesses and British investments – including, for example, British pension funds? Is the odd pound or two on or off energy bills – which the BBC always does cover – really the big story here? Sandbagged The Economist also shines a new light on current UK policies. I’m sure the Coalition can live with criticism from groups such as Sandbag of its recent billion-pound-a-year subsidy to fossil-fuel-burning power stations. I’m sure it wouldn’t lose too much sleep if Greenpeace suggested it should not increase subsidies for North Sea gas companies, but instead use the plummeting wholesale price as an opportunity to increase carbon taxation without hitting consumers’ bills. But hang on – this is The Economist making these arguments! So these are the questions we really need answering. Has The Economist joined the Green Blob, at least on the energy and climate issue? Is it the latest entity to be captured by the Blob's cynical and remorseless ooze through British society, absorbing organisations such as the CBI, the Bank of England, the Women's Institute, the Church of England and the British Medical Association in its clammy embrace? Or, on energy and climate, is the Green Blob actually the same thing as the mainstream? And if so, who on Earth is left outside?

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