A new recipe to curb U.S. emissions?

Europe should try to move to a more U.S.-style economic model

Workers from all around the world, here is a piece of news that might interest you! It looks like some researchers in Washington D.C. have found a new solution to curb the U.S. carbon emissions.

I have just read a report published by the Center for Economics and Policy Research. The report studies the impact of long working weeks on the global warming issue. As the authors, David Rosnick and Mark Weisbrot, rightly observe, there is a general transatlantic consensus that Europe needs to move to a more U.S.-style economic model, and especially needs to allow more labor market flexibility (i.e. allow less regulation of business, more latitude to fire employees...)

Americans work more than Europeans, but they also tend to consume more energy per unit of GDP

Yet, according to this study, such an evolution could have highly negative effects on the energy use in Europe. Here are the facts: in 2003, Americans worked in average 1817 hours a year, while their European counterparts work in average 1650 hours a year. At the same time, the energy consumption of the United States was around 0.27 kg of oil equivalent per dollar of GDP* in 2005, while the average European energy consumption was close to 0.21 kg of oil equivalent per dollar of GDP.

Longer working hours tend to increase the energy bill

In the authors' view, the higher energy use in the US per unit of GDP is due to the longer time spent at work. Their explanation is actually quite simple: when you work more, you've got less time. Therefore, you'll be more prone to avoid time-consuming activities (that also tend to consume less energy), like drying your laundry on a clothesline, cooking or walking to work.

With shorter working hours, Americans could reach the Kyoto targets

Assuming a constant energy efficiency (energy used per unit of GDP) and a constant productivity (GDP per hour of work), the authors calculated that if the workers in the U.S. had worked as much as people in the EU-15 in 2002, the country would have decreased its energy bill by 20%, and would have emitted 3% less carbon dioxide than in 1990, thus reaching easily the Kyoto targets...

Should we start reconsidering the classic economic theory in the light of the new global challenge we face?

* GDP : Gross Domestic Product ou Produit Intérieur Brut

Photo: Nicolas.