The Budget unveiled by the government makes it more difficult for the UK to meet its net-zero carbon climate target, academics and environmentalists have warned.
The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, was accused of undermining the goal set by Theresa May just nine months ago after he froze fuel duty yet again – a policy that has cost a cumulative £50 bn since 2011.
As well as making it even cheaper to drive compared with public transport fares, the chancellor announced a £27 bn, 4,000-mile road-building program compared with just £1 bn for green transport.
Environmental groups said that the Budget on Wednesday was “truly awful” and that it “completely destroys any pretense of UK government leadership”.
The Budget comes just months before the UK is due to host the international COP26 summit, where other countries will be asked to make their own contributions to cutting their carbon emissions.
“It is a mistake to freeze the fuel-duty escalator for the 10th year in a row, threatening attainment of UK’s net-zero target, and damaging the UK’s credibility in advance of hosting the UN climate conference in December,” said Steven Sorrell, professor of energy policy at the University of Sussex Business School.
“Car drivers have enjoyed a large price cut in real terms since 2010 since the price of gasoline and diesel has not kept pace with inflation. At the same time, public transport fares have risen faster than inflation, and bus travel has declined.
“Cheap fuel prices have encouraged people to purchase gas-guzzling SUVs, which now account for one-quarter of new car sales. Carbon emissions from transport are rising, and cars now emit more CO2 than power stations. These trends are not sustainable.”
Professor Sorrell said the global fall in oil prices had provided a political “opportunity” to reinstate the escalator and argued that “much of the burden” would fall on high-income groups.
Read rest at The Independent
Their allowing for Politics not common sense to guide them
You’d expect the Independent to come up with an article like that, but it is unlikely many of the Government infrastructure projects will get off the ground as the Greens will use the Courts to stop them, claiming they are in conflict with the stupid ‘2050 Net Zero’ legislation the UK has passed. It has been said the Government has withdrawn a number of project proposals to check how they fit with 2050 law they have passed.
Look to the UK stopping moving forward with any infrastructure projects that don’t meet Green demands. From now on the UK will be going backwards, all because the stupid MP’s that passed the 2050 law and who just wanted to ‘virtual signal’ or ‘show off’ to the world.
The problem is that we have lazy, virtue signalling politicians responding to green activists. The Climate Change Act was drafted by an activist recruited by a left wing socialist government. When our government comes to realise that what they are proposing signals the end of a way of life they may wake up and behave responsibly. I’m hopeful that the current position will change once we’ve finished with the awful EU.
By its very nature any net zero target is in jeopardy because it is impossible to provide the energy needed to run an industrial nation with wind and solar power. The energy density of these sources just isn’t high enough. Now consider that the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. Some times when the sun in shining in theory there is a lot of cloud cover, especially in the UK. With no feasible way to store enough energy to run an electric grid, net zero means power outages will be a routine way of life.