It is important for us to remember that UK ceased to be a net energy exporter in 2004 after a flurry of green policymaking, which culminated in the Climate Change Act 2008. This was intensified by the ‘Net Zero’ target adopted in 2019.
During this period, coal-fired power stations were demolished, but not replaced with equivalent, reliable generating capacity. Shale gas exploration was abolished before it had even started.
Energy investors in the UK were lured to attractive guaranteed profits arising from subsidy regimes and were dissuaded from conventional energy by the rising costs of capital and they, therefore, lost interest in oil and gas.
Despite promises of ‘green jobs’, growth’ and lower prices being the constant chorus of energy ministers of all governments and their so-called ‘opposition’ counterparts, domestic energy prices have tripled. It is as if the entire political establishment had decided to forget that there exists a relationship between scarcity and price.
The effect of abolishing coal is just that: it creates scarcity. Policies that either restrict the exploration of oil and gas or increase the cost of capital also create scarcity. So successful have these policies been since 2019, that the government has had to cap the increase in energy prices.
There is still immense value that could be unleashed from the North Sea, but the bulk of that potential lies in oil and gas. Our embrace of green economics, at the expense of established economic orthodoxy, has led to a disdain for industry and has reduced economic growth.
It seems not to have bothered people that we are now less capable of producing things and sustaining ourselves — an issue which would have once sent a government into a tailspin! It is as if using less energy is thought to be a ‘good thing’ in itself, not just a reflection of rising prices and stagnant productivity.
It will not be possible to build enough wind farms to get to net zero or to generate enough electricity from wind or solar to support a move to EVs and heat pumps. By putting green political ambitions before any other practical consideration, we have made ourselves poorer and it will create problems far worse than thought to arise from ‘climate change’.
If we carry on like lemmings, we are all headed over a cliff. It is high time for a change! — R. Sheppard, Beckingham.
