Biden is Missing the Point on Work-from-Home: "It's time for Americans to get back to work"
President Biden's remarks during his State of the Union address last week shows how disconnected politicians (Democrats and Republicans) are from their constituents.
"We can end the shutdown of schools and businesses," the President said. "We have the tools we need."
"It's time for Americans to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again," Biden continued. "People working from home can feel safe to begin to return to the office."
In regards to COVID-19, this is true, however, in the evolving career landscape, Biden and employers are missing the point:
- A survey report conducted by Owl labs suggests remote workers are happier and stay in their jobs longer. They also found that workers who were working at home reported being happy 22% more than workers who always work in an onsite office environment. According to businessinsider.com, "15.4% of Americans aged 16 and older worked from home at some point in January 2022, according to the latest data from Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's down from roughly 23% in February 2021." As employers call for a return to the office, that number is continuing to shrink and some employees are opting to look for other career opportunities as a result.
- At the onset of the Coronavirus Pandemic in 2020, OPEC attempted to control the price of oil through production cuts, however Russia refused and continued to produce oil, hoping to gain market share in anticipation that the U.S. shale industry’s profitability and output would fall in the face of lower prices. With global demand for oil down by almost 30 million barrels per day because of the shutdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the addition of petroleum to an already saturated market, the fuel stockpiles in the United States reached a near-record level of 535.2 million barrels of crude petroleum on May 1, 2020. Producer prices for crude petroleum declined 34% in March and 48.8% in April. In all, the Producer Price Index (PPI) for crude petroleum fell 71% from January to April. The Import Price Index for crude petroleum declined 34.1% in March and 36.6% in April. In all, prices for crude petroleum imports fell 62.8% from January to April.
- Due to a drop in demand and a surplus of supply, the national average cost for a gallon of gasoline fell from $2.636 in January 2020 to $1.938 in April 2020 (down from $2.881 in April 2019) and prices wouldn't fully rebound until February 2021. With the ongoing situation in Ukraine, the US sanctions against Russia and Russian fuel imports, the national average cost for a gallon of gasoline is $4.25 (as of 3/9/22 reported on AAA.com). A report by the London-based think tank Carbon Tracker concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic may have pushed the fossil fuel industry into "terminal decline" as demand for oil and gas decreases while governments aim to accelerate the clean energy transition. It predicted that an annual 2% decline in demand for fossil fuels could cause the future profits of oil, gas and coal companies to collapse from an estimated $39tn to $14tn. An assessment by Ernst & Young found that a stimulus program that focuses on renewable energy and climate-friendly projects could create more than 100,000 direct jobs across Australia and estimates that every $1m spent on renewable energy and exports creates 4.8 full-time jobs in renewable infrastructure while $1m on fossil fuel projects would only create 1.7 full-time jobs.
- The COVID-19 lockdowns disrupted everyday life worldwide, decreasing the level and frequency of human activity and production. Despite the severity of these circumstances, there were clear positive effects on the environment as a result of human inactivity. Reductions in fossil fuel consumption as well as economic activity due to Travel restrictions, Business closures and other dramatic responses due to COVID-19 were recorded. As human activity slowed globally, a substantial decrease in fossil fuel use, resource consumption, and waste disposal was observed, generating less air and water pollution in many regions of the world. Specifically, there was a sharp and lasting decline in planned air travel and vehicle transportation throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, greenhouse gas emissions showed significant reductions throughout the world which were on the verge of meeting the initial emissions target under the Paris agreement on climate change as well as remarkable GHG emissions reduction and air pollutants. Environmental reports showed carbon dioxide emission reduced by 931.8Mt and Nitrogen emissions by 30%.
When faced with the evidence listed above, it is clear that working from home is essential when it comes to any "Green New Deal" or discussions about our role in the reversal of global warming and climate change. Enacting Work-from-Home policies now will help to lessen to environmental burden on our planet and alleviate any economic woes in the short-term.