European lawmakers should level with the public about the economic costs of “greening” the economy which will come with similar supply shocks to the energy crises of the 1970s, the head of Belgium’s central bank said this week.
Appearing before the European Parliament in Brussels this week, Governor at the National Bank of Belgium Pierre Wunsch urged Eurocrats to be honest about the negative ramifications of the bloc’s climate agenda so they won’t have to face the anger of disappointed voters when they find out that the promises of a green economic miracle do not materialise.
“This transition is not going to make us collectively richer,” Wunsch said in comments reported by POLITICO. “We should be more candid… don’t lure people into thinking that greening carries positive opportunities that could augment GDP and create millions of well-paid jobs.”
In a stark prediction, the central banker warned that carbon price capping schemes and the higher costs of allegedly greener forms of energy could result in European energy prices being as much as five to eight times more expensive than in the United States where the shale gas revolution has mitigated global supply shocks in the energy market and looks to make America one of the top producers and exporters of energy for decades to come.