On this day, December 12 in 1977, the UK government launched an(other) energy efficiency scheme because … they were embarrassed
“It was the visit of US President Jimmy Carter in May 1977 that brought matters to a head. Carter had just launched a major energy saving programme, and the Prime Minister, James Callaghan, did not want to be outdone. ACEC were asked to design a new programme, and with Prime Ministerial support Benn was able to “bang heads together” in Whitehall. On December 12th 1977, he announced a £470m, 4-year programme (worth £2.7bn today), with the aim of saving £700m pa (£4bn) and cutting energy demand by 10 %.”
(Mallaburn and Eyre, 2014)”
[The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 334ppm. At time of writing it was 419ishppm- but for what it is now,well, see here for the latest.]
The context was this –
The UK government had already launched an energy efficiency scheme in 1974 which had achieved … not very much. All through the 70s there were concerns about energy – how much it would cost whether it was running out, whether you’ll be able to get hold of it and in the background for some people a small number at this point concerns about climate change
Why this matters.
We need to understand that energy efficiency is desperately unsexy and difficult it is much harder to pose with a hard hat and a hi-vis jacket in front of loft insulation than it is in front of new production facilities whether those are nuclear gas offshore wind whatever.
What happened next?
The Labour government was kicked out in 1979 and the new administration of Margaret Thatcher did nothing about energy efficiency and nothing about climate change even though that she herself was briefed on the issue in 1980.
One reply on “December 12, 1977 – UK Government launches energy efficiency scheme, because Jimmy Carter had visited…”
[…] Similarly, while Britain had often fixated on how it was going to supply energy to itself, a Department of Energy per se was only created after another crisis – that of the first “Oil Shocks” and coming of the three day week led to an announcement in January 1974. Energy efficiency only really received a boost following a Presidential visit by Jimmy Carter in 1977. UK Prime Minister Jim Callaghan felt upstaged and his Energy Minister, one Tony Benn, “banged heads together” for an announcement. […]