This can only be good news as it will signal to a global audience that the carbon net zero fantasy can never be achieved. The reason for this is quite simple, that for the foreseeable future all countries will continue to be heavily dependent on fossil fuels for their energy. Coal, gas and electricity are all reliable, relatively cheap sources of energy, whereas the renewable alternatives such a solar and wind can be intermittent and unreliable, and are generally more expensive, requiring subsidy. This position will continue until such time as more effective and economical battery power becomes available, or baseload nuclear energy can be delivered on a large scale.
Britain is probably the most fanatical country in the world in its attempt to decarbonise its economy. Most of the low hanging fruit such as wind farms and solar panels are getting close to their likely peak, if the lights are to remain on. Moreover, a significant amount of our industrial production has been lost to China and other countries, thus artificially reducing the UK carbon footprint, as those products previously produced here are now imported.
It is claimed that opinion polls show that a large majority of the public support the government’s target of achieving net zero by 2050. This is probably unsurprising as all the major political parties currently share this objective, which has been accompanied by a growing drumbeat of alarmism by many media outlets, particularly the BBC, which continually portrays extreme weather events as ‘evidence’ of climate change.
In reality the climate is exactly the same as it was over 200 years ago, since the end of the ‘Little Ice Age’, as anyone can confirm just by walking outside their door. During this period extreme weather such as floods, droughts, storms and heat waves have occurred on a regular basis. Previously these were rightly ascribed to unusual weather conditions, not as now, the default group think that pins the blame on ‘climate change’.
Since the relatively easy steps to reduce CO2 emissions have already been taken, it means that future plans to achieve the net zero target will have a much more direct impact on the public. COP 26 was an attempt to create a putative world government in which all countries can be coerced into signing up to a menu of restrictions such as approved energy sources, heating systems, type of car purchases, reduced air travel and how much meat and dairy produce they may consume, etc.
It is likely that only rich western nations will make any serious attempt to implement this agenda. They may however discover that this top down policy, adopted to appease zealous vocal minorities, may not have the wider public support which opinion polls currently show. Once the general public start to discover the extra cost and practical difficulties of electric cars, the huge expense and relatively poor performance of heat pumps, the unreliability of wind and solar power without the back up of coal leading to power cuts, the petty restrictions on travelling by air, and incessant government propaganda and interference in their lifestyle and the food they consume, their resistance will start to grow. If additional controls such as rationing through carbon allowances are added to the mix their disenchantment will be complete.
Currently all parties support this madcap climate obsession, but the weakest link appears to be the Conservative Party. Several backbenchers are beginning to voice their scepticism, supported by the right wing media. Once the net zero policies start to bite these rebels are likely to start causing trouble, just like what happened over the European Union, another issue where the electorate had become disenfranchised, following a stitch up by the major parties. Let us hope that we do not have to wait as long for the climate lunacy to be abandoned.
