Decarbonization and RIIO in the U.K.

Deck: 

Look Across the Pond

Fortnightly Magazine - February 2019
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When a taxi driver offers a stock tip, it usually means that it is time to sell. When the taxi driver brings up climate policy, you wonder how the issue became taxi cab parlance.

We have just arrived in London, and the taxi driver is lamenting the city's redesign of roads. What were previously lanes for vehicles now form a network of bike superhighways. According to our driver, the changes have narrowed roadways, slowed commutes, and increased traffic. He notes it is all part of the United Kingdom's effort to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

Turns out the Cycle Superhighways were conceived and pushed by Boris Johnson, the former mayor and an avid cyclist. The vision is that getting more people on bikes will reduce congestion for vehicles. In fact, the current target is for eighty percent of trips taken in the city to be accomplished by cycling, walking, or public transportation by 2041.

Despite some inaccuracies and hyperbole, it is striking to listen to the taxi driver discuss the United Kingdom's ambitious desires to address climate change. If taxi drivers are talking about climate policy, just imagine the conversations occurring in the energy sector.

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