2023-09-22 20:00:31
On the first day of the General Political Reflections, I saw an interview with climate minister Rob Jetten in Trouw. In my previous New Year’s Eve performance, I portrayed him in a slightly cynical way as a kind of Superman, the man who will do it, the man who, with his impressive physique and ditto appearance, will save the climate, and thus the planet, for us (and all generations after us). will save.
The headline above the interview did not entirely match that image, to be honest: ‘Extinction Rebellion’s demand is too simplistic’. Regardless of opinion, this is due to the description bluntly. That gives me a similar itch as I don’t recognize myself in that image in: the people in the country often have that feeling too.
Let’s get the facts: the size of tax benefits and other forms of subsidy for the fossil sector and major energy consumers appears not to be 4.5 billion (every year), but certainly 46 billion. And if you are now thinking that is TEN TIMES AS MUCH, then you are absolutely right. As if you talk about Ajax in the final of the Champions League, but you are actually talking about the current tear-jerking situation in Amsterdam-Zuidoost.
‘We worked without taboos’
Jetten knows that we have to cut back, wants to cut back, understands that the planet needs it, and has managed to cut back around 4.8 billion during his reign. About which he says: “We thought the subsidies totaled about 4 billion, so we worked without taboos.” My head implodes for a moment, that as a ministry or government you don’t know how much you give away (I mean: how much you support companies in their economic activity) and then use that ignorance as an argument, we were doing quite well, something like that.
Oh yes, Jetten’s predecessors thought that subsidies were minimal, or even non-existent. So, if you, as a well-intentioned citizen, make a mistake in a mind-bending form from, say, the Tax Authorities, your life can be destroyed; As a government you can let tens of billions in revenue trickle away for years, and you are surprised when people revolt against it.
Because Jetten – formerly Superman – believes that the A12 demonstrators, for example, want too much (and too fast). Because we must “keep investments and employment in the Netherlands”. Yes, you might say, unless the investments exacerbate the current problem, or if employment comes at the expense of people’s health or further destruction of nature.
Carpet under your own policy
If you give immense benefits to large energy consumers and at the same time know that many people are turning against climate policy because it is becoming too expensive for them, because ‘the common man’ is going to pay the costs again (home insulation, heat pump, meat and flies are becoming more expensive). ), I think you pull the rug out from under your own policy on a daily basis.
If you use a quarter of your gas to produce fertilizer so that the agricultural sector can continue to bulk feed to maintain the livestock and meat sector, there is no longer even a carpet.
I hope for more courage and support from Jetten’s successor. As short as possible.
Dolf Jansen is a comedian and writes a weekly column for Trouw. Read his columns here.
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