Older plumbers and electricians won’t always invest in upgrading their own sustainability skills. Oligopolised industries often seek to pass higher costs (including carbon prices) onto consumers rather than investing in new technologies, skills and plant. A price on carbon alone will be insufficient to get major infrastructure agencies to align planning and investment decisions with climate change mitigation measures. The evidence suggests that skill shortages are perennial problems when economies undergo major transformation and this can lead to bottlenecks.