Britain is Leading the World on Net Zero, But No One is Following – Watts Up With That?

From THE DAILY SCEPTIC

by Will Jones

Britain is leading the world on Net Zero, but no one is following, leaving Britain alone in committing green suicide, says Jeremy Warner in the Telegraph. Here’s an excerpt.

In China and much of the rest of the ‘developing world’, Net Zero targets appear to mean nothing at all beyond their usefulness in undermining the West. Economic growth is routinely prioritised over climate change goals.

Similarly in the U.S., which pays lip service to Net Zero while simultaneously celebrating its position as the world’s largest oil producer; big tax breaks for fracking go hand in hand with the hundreds of billions the Biden administration is pouring into the green energy transition.

Even holier-than-thou little Norway, which aims to be carbon neutral by 2030, seeks to extend the life of its North Sea oil and gas reserves long into the future with big ongoing incentives to invest.

In a bid to revive economic growth, Christopher Luxon’s new centre-Right government in New Zealand is meanwhile in wholesale retreat from the environmental commitments of his saintly predecessor, Jacinda Ardern. 

Only in the U.K. does the torch of Net Zero still burn strong, with the newly installed Labour Government determined to double down on emission targets whatever the costs. Even Brussels demonstrates at least a modicum of common sense on these matters.

Britain isn’t ‘world leading’ in much these days, but when it comes to climate change we aim to be well ahead of the pack, with some of the most demanding regulatory requirements on the planet. 

“Over the top, lads,” shouts the Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband with all the righteous self-belief of a cross-carrying crusader, only to look behind and find that nobody is following. There are few first-mover advantages in this game, only the certainty of being mown down in the charge.

Since entering office little more than a month ago, the new Government has further toughened up what was already an exceptionally challenging timetable for the transition to clean energy. In so doing, it has effectively signed the North Sea oil and gas sector’s death warrant, putting tens of thousands of jobs at risk, undermining a once lucrative source of tax revenue and potentially opening up another giant hole in the balance of payments.

Worth reading in full.