Former Prime Minister Liz Truss has written in the Telegraph to counter “ludicrous claims” that pursuing Net Zero will “boost the economy and drive growth”. Here’s an excerpt.
This is patently not true and wishful thinking. Additional environmental regulations have already hampered growth. For example, the National Grid estimates a cost of £3 trillion for decarbonising the electricity system.
The zealous drive to Net Zero is undeniably making business less competitive, hitting taxpayers through the cost of additional subsidies and hiking energy bills for consumers and industry alike, all of which is acting as a drag on economic growth.
The Climate Change Committee was established by the 2008 Climate Change Act passed by the Labour Government, legislation that has not been reversed or reformed by the Conservatives. In our haste to not be seen as on the wrong side of history, we failed to make conservative arguments for environmental improvement – arguments centred on property rights, individual and family endeavours and the free market. Instead, we empowered our ideological opponents and accepted much of their extremist agenda.
Britain should aim to be energy independent by 2040 using oil and gas as well as nuclear and renewables. We are in an excellent position to become a net energy exporter, given the amount of sea by which we are surrounded where offshore wind farms can be located, as well as our expertise in nuclear power. The use of North Sea oil and gas is crucial, so there needs to be investment in that too. There also should be fracking in the U.K. We are in the ludicrous position of importing fracked gas from the U.S. that has been liquefied to —180°C but refusing to frack ourselves. Meanwhile, Brits are paying twice as much for their energy as Americans.
The number one threat to the environment and our freedom and security is the rise of authoritarian regimes and the decline of democracy. Therefore, we need to cancel failed multilateral structures and work with allies that share our values. We should abolish the Climate Change Act and instead adopt a new Climate Freedom Act that enables rather than dictates technology.
We should protect our environment by protecting property rights and allowing enterprise to develop new green technologies. We should call out the green lobby’s brazen anti-capitalist agenda. They are the extremists in today’s politics and should be labelled as such. They say they want to reduce carbon but oppose nuclear power.
Worth reading in full.
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