With good reason, the fanatics of Extinction Rebellion have become unpopular with the public over the past few years. Their militant and often upsetting actions treat ordinary people with scorn and give off a nasty air of self-righteousness which damages their cause rather than helps it.
But the more mainstream supporters of green zealotry get off much more lightly. Only five MPs voted against the Climate Change Act in 2008, the moment when this country officially committed itself to severe and economically risky targets which it is still striving to meet.
A cost benefit analysis of the Bill said at the time the potential cost of pursuing ultra green goals was twice the maximum benefit. But almost nobody asked.
In any case, such a vote, in any serious Parliament, is open to grave suspicion, as overwhelming majorities tend to reflect groupthink rather than serious consideration of the issue.
It is surely time that these objectives were exposed to rigorous questioning. Yet they are still inscribed on the banners of the Government and Sir Keir Starmer claimed last week that securing £1 billion investment in offshore wind is a major step forward in our mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower, that it will stimulate our industrial heartlands and break down barriers to growth – and we will somehow lead the world in industries of the future.
In fact, this country is still many miles short of its target of ‘decarbonising’ the electricity system by 2030. The more we try to rely on ‘renewables’, the more the uncontrollable weather shows us that we cannot.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his Energy Secretary Ed Miliband pictured at the COP 29 Climate Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan this week
The Prime Minister has received criticism over the massive 470 person delegation the UK has sent to the climate summit in Azerbaijan for what is a 5,000 mile round-trip
Ian Rondeau has described the tactics deployed by environmentalist group Extinction Rebellion as ‘militant and often upsetting’
The state’s encouragement of electric vehicles is also placing extra strain on the grid, according to Ian Rondeau
Wind power is still in its infancy and won’t be yet able to solve the UK’s energy problems, according to Ian Rondeau
Several recent weeks of minimal sunshine and little wind have left the nation dependent instead on gas and on imported energy from our neighbours.
Despite bold boasts, storage of wind power is still in its infancy, and the problem is far from solved.
Vast lengths of new cables supported by pylons will have to march across the British landscape to supply wind-generated energy to the whole nation.
The state’s encouragement of electric vehicles is also placing extra strain on the grid, which has to supply the growing amount of power needed to charge their batteries. So why exactly is this country, and this Government, promoting the UK as one of the world’s leading disciples of the green agenda?
While Sir Keir flew off to distant Baku in oil and gas-rich Azerbaijan for the latest climate jamboree, the leaders of several other major countries did not join him there. He was, however, supported by a UK delegation of 470 people. We may be fairly sure few of them stayed in uncomfortable cheap hotels, that quite a lot did not fly tourist class and it would be surprising if they reached Baku in any way except by air. That is a very big carbon footprint. And for what?
Green piety, which has the Premier and his Energy Secretary Ed Miliband in its grip, is always mostly about the imaginary future, about alleged dangers and noisy declarations of national goodness, accompanied by promises of a golden future. But the reality, far more often, is higher prices, less reliable supply – and hypocrisy.
And all this is accompanied by the most basic failure to measure the costs of these policies against their benefits.
New Tory leader Kemi Badenoch should seriously consider detaching her party from the green consensus which has dominated our politics for far too long. At the very least, the issue needs a properly balanced debate in which doubts are at last given a fair hearing.