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Andrew Sissons

@acjsissons.bsky.social

7.4K followers 850 following 5.6K posts

Day job: climate change, heat pumps, energy at Nesta Other stuff: low-fi economics on growth, cities & economic geography, general UK policy, occasional basic charts Bristol, he/him, lots of parenting / caring. Personal account.

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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · Feb 14

New personal post: is net zero good or bad for growth?

This is a long post on a tricky topic, so this is a thread too.
I wrote it because people are making strong claims about net zero without really paying attention to the facts. And the facts keep changing

acjsissons.medium.com/is-net-zero-...

Is net zero good or bad for growth?

The underlying facts about net zero and growth keep changing. The proponents for each side, however, do not tend to change their minds…

acjsissons.medium.com

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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 4h

In summary: don’t move to Dubai, move to the Isle of Man

Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 5h

All too well!

Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 5h

I think “closest descendant of Bonnie Prince Charlie as the rightful monarch” probably fits this worldview pretty well

Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 7h

- Oh and did I mention how much they loved closing the borders and keeping the pubs open during the pandemic?

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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 7h

Think that’s a bonus if you hold this particular worldview

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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 7h

- A very longstanding Parliament (Tynwald) that is a bit mythologised
- Strong fishing and smuggling heritage
- The capital (Douglas) is a slightly faded seaside town
- Not part of its main trade partner but retains benefits
- Landscape is a chunk of the Lake District with some flat bits tacked on

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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 7h

It’s wild now much the Isle of Man actually resembles a certain rose-tinted vision of what Britain should be:
- Low and flat taxes
- Lax regulations on finance and gambling, attracting offshore industries
- Not much health and safety - no fluoride in the water, some roads without speed limits

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 8h

I love how the Isle of Man - and actual Crown dependency a few miles off the coast - is completely ignored, while these guys fixate on petrostates thousands of miles away.

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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 8h

Tired: United Kingdom
Wired: Singapore-on-Thames
Inspired: Kingdom of Sodor and Man

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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 9h

Not exactly authoritarian, but reckon the Isle of Man is a candidate. “Oldest Parliament” has a bit of the Magna Carta about it, a big libertarian streak and low and flat taxes

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Reposted by Andrew Sissons

thetranscendedman @atranscendedman.bsky.social · 22h

Yale researchers analyzed data from 158 million US workers and found that even after the pandemic, COVID-19 continues to raise work absences by 13% and labor force exits by 13%.

The virus has created a new year-round baseline similar to flu season.

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Enduring Outcomes of COVID-19 Work Absences on the US Labor Market

This cohort study examines the extent to which COVID-19 continues to generate work absences and decrease labor force participation beyond the pandemic period in the US.

jamanetwork.com

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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 1d

I’ve heard a lot of people say we should stop using the language of “net zero” when talking about emissions reductions.

I think I can live with that, as long as what we mean is still “gradually ending carbon emissions”, and that people don’t hear “reducing emissions but less quickly”

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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 1d

Cheery Friday afternoon question off the back of Michael’s lovely little piece:

What are the best arguments to use with the public about why net zero is necessary and desirable?

Michael de Podesta @protons4b.bsky.social · 1d

protonsforbreakfast.wordpress.com/2025/10/10/w...

Why you should care about Net Zero.

My attempt to sum it up in 450 words for the good people of Maidenhead.

Why you should care about Net Zero.

Friends, in an unprecedented media blitz, this article is being co-published with newspaper publishing giant, The Maidenhead Advertiser. =============================== Who am I to talk about Net Z…

protonsforbreakfast.wordpress.com

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Reposted by Andrew Sissons

Michael de Podesta @protons4b.bsky.social · 1d

protonsforbreakfast.wordpress.com/2025/10/10/w...

Why you should care about Net Zero.

My attempt to sum it up in 450 words for the good people of Maidenhead.

Why you should care about Net Zero.

protonsforbreakfast.wordpress.com

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Reposted by Andrew Sissons

James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 2d

That England has had its three worst harvests on record inside the past five years really should be being treated as a much bigger cause for concern than is currently the case. www.businessgreen.com/news/4520171...

'This is what farming with climate change looks like': England endures second worst harvest on record

New analysis confirms three of the five worst harvests on record have occurred in the past five years on the back of extreme heat, drought, and rainfall

www.businessgreen.com

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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 3d

I don’t think the link works!

Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 3d

Or doing something crazy like “one thing at a time”

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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 3d

New hypothesis about the productivity puzzle just dropped.
(The 2-5 tabbers ofc, not you)

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Reposted by Andrew Sissons

James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 3d

Nesta expands free heat pump for heat pump engineers scheme. www.businessgreen.com/news/4520071...

Nesta launches heat pump 'giveaway' scheme for engineers

'Start at Home' initiative aims to help tackle skills gap that is expected to require 38,000 heat pump engineers over the coming years

www.businessgreen.com

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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 3d

Sure, but any decisions we make now are based on future wind farms (generally at fairly competitive prices).

We can’t do anything about the contracts agreed back in the 2010s (short of ripping up contracts), and nor would we build renewables at those prices again

Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 4d

Ian makes a fair point here that the actual BTP position may be more nuanced than the story implies

Ian @ianpatterson.com · 4d

There was a chap from BTP interviewed on R4 Today earlier. It's nothing to do with how long a bike is left for, it's a rough budget for how much time someone can review CCTV for. The BBC seem to think someone can only watch CCTV linearly at 1x speed, not (say) do binary search and use xX speed

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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 4d

Thanks - that makes sense.

My worry is that if you say this kind of thing publicly, you reduce the deterrent effect (in so far as it still exists). So better to retain ambiguity than admit you don’t investigate. But I can see the story doing a lot of that

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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 4d

Thanks - so BTP were saying they wouldn't spend more than 2 hours reviewing footage? Or was it just a general comment that they can't spend too much time reviewing footage?

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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 4d

Well yes, most of the currently active CfDs are from AR1 and before, before prices fell.
The most recent auction, AR6 (the one everyone is saying was expensive) came in at around £75 in 2024 prices.

Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 4d

The headline is obviously what campaigners say, but the statement from BTP seems to corroborate the “won’t investigate if left over 2 hours” substance, unless I’m missing something?

Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 4d

Policing is 100% not my area, but… it seems like a very bad idea to publicly announce that you won’t investigate most bike thefts from stations?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Bike thefts at stations 'decriminalised'

The British Transport Police will not investigate many categories of bicycle theft, the BBC learns.

www.bbc.co.uk

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