Doug Sheridan Writes
“ Charles Moore continues in the Telegraph, the language needed for energy policy should come naturally to conservatives.”
Doug Sheridan
Charles Moore continues in the Telegraph, the language needed for energy policy should come naturally to conservatives. Its key words are “security” of supply, “reliable,” “affordable” and, but only if those prior conditions are met, “renewable.”
Touting security requires reasonably low external political risk. Russia is the most lurid current cause of the insecurity that the West's net-zero obsession exacerbates. China, which has not the slightest intention of hitting net zero, is the biggest long-term threat.
Instead Brits get grean capitulation. Regulators such as Ofgem, originally charged with safeguarding the interests of consumers, are being suborned by net-zero “mandates.” Since the Bank of England fell swooning into the arms of Governor Mark Carney 10 years ago, the dogma has even been enshrined in the remit of the Bank of England.
In London, everyone’s story is about the jams and diversions caused by ultra low-emission zones. In the country, the talk is of the vast cost—well into five figures—and ineffectiveness of air heat pumps. Reports of plumber removing pumps because their owners despair of them. In Germany, the banning of new domestic oil or gas furnaces from next year threatens the governing coalition.
Labour’s bicycling London haute bourgeoisie— and their Extinction Rebellion offspring—are very different from those people, going by the old-fashioned name of “workers,” who minister to our continuing need for fossil fuels. Gary Smith of the GMB union, their eloquent spokesman, knows that oil and gas, especially gas, are the essential underpinning of any energy transition.
Yet still the Conservative UK Government has hardly moved. Yes, Rishi Sunak is pushing for more oil and gas exploration licences in the North Sea. He also, though far too timidly, is promising to cut windfall taxes of oil and gas profits. It's barely baby steps.
To Sum It Up 1: The idea of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050—or any precise date—is profoundly unconservative, yet Conservative governments have chosen to worship at that shrine.
To Sum It Up 2: Even after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, British politics has been agonisingly slow to adjust. Now, in both urban and rural settings, the talk is shifting from virtue-signalling to complaint. Two years ago, your dinner-party standing was improved by boasting about your EV. No longer. Too bad Convervatives have no plan to exploit the shift.