Regular readers of my Substack might recall that back in April, I wrote an article rebutting a blatant piece of propaganda that appeared in an advertorial in the Guardian, paid for by the National Grid.
I complained to both the Guardian and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and there is both good news and bad news to report.
The bad news is that the Guardian dismissed the complaint saying:
Colleagues have been through the piece in light of your comments, and do not believe that there is a basis for amending the copy of the article.
The good news is the ASA appear to have taken a dim view of the article. Its response noted that the article has now been removed from the Guardian’s website and it said:
We have decided to resolve your complaint through the provision of advice to the advertiser. Therefore, we have explained the concerns raised to the advertiser and provided it with guidance on how to ensure that its advertising complies with the Codes both now and in future.
It is not clear whether the withdrawal of the article is related to the “advice” it gave or whether it is merely a coincidence. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that renewables are an expensive source of power and false claims can no longer be made in the press.
I think we should chalk this up as some sort of victory.
David Turver writes the Eigen Values Substack page, where this article first appeared.
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Wow.
I wonder how long the ASA will be permitted to hold this line. Someone in Billy’s UK branch has not been doing their job.
For many of us the lie that renewables are cheaper than conventional fuels is pushed so relentlessly that we take it as a given no matter what the context in which we see it. Time will tell but it is good to see some decency still exists in public bodies.
Well done David Turver.
Remember the words of Obama when he was unleashing his Green Energy and Carbon Tax nonsense. ——“Under my plan energy prices will necessarily skyrocket”. But all people need to do is look at their electric bills over the last period since 2008 when we got the Climate Change Act and started to build all the thousands of turbines. I wind is so cheap why have prices trebled? And the Ukraine excuse is a feeble one as prices were rising long before that. So much for all the FREE WIND.
Hats off to Mr Turver
“It is not clear whether the withdrawal of the article is related to the “advice” it gave or whether it is merely a coincidence.”
It is not a coincidence.
1) newspapers don’t take down stories without a good reason and no other reason is available
2) legal action is possible if an ad found not to comply is not changed or removed.
So yes, “Hats off” to David Turver.
Many thanks for your efforts David, must have been a close run thing as BBC Verify could have only been nanoseconds behind you on this!
Did Farage spike the ASA’s drinks? This is the first time in a very long time they have done something honest.
FALSE ACCOUNTING. ——–If I have a store that sells red trousers and someone else has a store that sells yellow trousers, we would expect that our respective stores would be a success based on customers preferences. If people preferred red trousers then my store would do better than the other store.
But what would happen if the government decide to give rather large subsidy to the store selling yellow trousers? Then they would have interfered in the market to make it appear that yellow trousers were cheaper, and this would increase sales of those trousers.
This is what happens in the energy market where government pick winners (wind and sun) and losers (coal and gas). But it is even worse than that because government forces energy companies to take energy from wind and sun when it is available (Renewables Obligation).
Comparing energy from part time wind that requires backup and the turbines last a short time before needing to be replaced, to full time energy from coal or gas where the plant can last 50 years is like comparing a Helicopter to a Jumbo Jet.
This claim I keep hearing that Renewables are now cheaper than fossil fuels is FALSE. By far the cheapest way to generate electricity without government interference is by using coal and gas.
Well done David. We must keep pushing back against this nonsense via every avenue we can, including to our MPs (mine, Conservative, is totally sold down both the green and vaxjab trough, and now refuses to respond).
On the issue of climate and energy it is quite remarkable how the general public will believe things that are so obviously not true. ——-If Renewables are so cheap why have our bills doubled and nearly trebled as we use more and more wind? If Wind is so cheap then why are countries with about 3 billion people in them (China and India) preferring to use coal instead? The answer is because wind isn’t cheap at all. It is coal that is cheap. Western governments want to stop us using coal so they heap huge environmental cost on it (carbon taxes etc) and give 100% subsidy to wind and force energy companies to use it if the wind is blowing. Then they have the audacity to say wind is now cheaper. This is a bare faced lie, as is everything connected to Green ideology and Net Zero is.