I know a fewĀ people who write in think it is wrong to be trying to get to net zero as they do not think manmade CO 2 is such a problem. They point to warming periods before man made CO 2 and to the role of sun cycles, water vapour and natural CO 2. More Ā write in to say China and India are greatly increasing their CO 2 output each year this decade when they already account for 37 times as much as the UK. So they ask how can it makeĀ sense for the UK to stop more activities that generate CO 2 especially if we then import the goods that help create it?
What I have tried to do in recent years is to point out that some of the practical remedies the advocates of a rapid journey to net zero propose will not help reduce world CO 2. Indeed many of them will increase it. I have also argued that to work this has to be a journey the public willingly undertakes. It cannot all be done by making people buy things and do things they think are worse and dearer than what they do today. I am seeking maximum support for the need to change these damaging policies by arguing in this way. All western governments strongly back the net zero approach.
Today I do a stock take of some of the more obvious policies that can backfire.
- Keep our own gas in the ground. If we do this we will be importing even more gas, often in liquified form. LNG generates several times the amount of CO 2 than our own gas piped direct to customers. It takes more energyĀ to compress it, to keep it cool, to transport it long distances by sea and to convert it back to gas. It also means the big tax revenues largely pass to the foreign supplier state, not to the UK Treasury. Government has now accepted this advice to change this policy.
- Get more people to buy electric vehicles by subsidies and rules. If someone does buy an electric vehicle on many days when they plug it in the grid will need to deliver more gas or coal based energy to recharge. Most of the time we are using all the wind and solar we can produce so the extra electricity needed for an electric car requires fossil fuels, delivered in an inefficient way. it is not sensible to regulate or subsidise people into EVs before there is enough renewable energy available to recharge them. The government has dropped its planned ban on new diesel and petrol car sales but more needs to change.
- Get more people to buy electric cars. If someone buys an EV and scraps an older diesel they will need to do many miles a year in the EV to bring about a fall in CO 2.. The manufacture of theĀ new EV generates a lot of CO 2 which would not be generated if you ran the older diesel for longer. We need to account accurately for the impact.
- Promote more public transport. This does not work asĀ well as they often suppose. Many trains and busesĀ still run on diesel. Much of the electricity used by the electric ones is generated from fossil fuels forĀ trains andĀ buses. It only works well if the train or bus journey is by an electric vehicle that is supplied from additional renewable electricity and if the journey is one that would otherwise have required direct use of fossil fuel. It also needs a service which attracts sufficient people. Near empty buses increase CO 2 per passenger.
- Remove your gas boiler and insert a heat pump. There will be a large CO 2 creation to make the heat pump, carry out the installation, add the extra insulation, bigger radiators and the rest. There could then be reliance on substantial amounts of fossil fuel generated electricity to run the system.
- Close down fossil fuel using plant in steel, ceramics, paper, glass and other energy intensive activities to be replaced by imports. This will mean more CO 2, both from the CO 2 the exporting company creates in its overseas plants and for the transport of heavy and bulky items by sea.
So time to change many policies because they do not deliver net zero and depend on getting people to do things they do not want to do.
November 11, 2023
All western governments strongly back the net zero approach.
Just because others do it does not make it either right or sensible. We have seen just in the past few years how disastrous this kind of groupthink can be with the horrors of lockdowns – Sweden had the guts to largely stand aside from this groupthink and suffered much less economic, social and medical damage as a consequence.
November 11, 2023
indeed we had establishment group think on HS2, the net harm Covid vaccines) especially for young people they were madā, for the ERM and the EU, for masks, for the EURO, the lockdowns, for the NHS systemā¦ they were all were wrongheaded.
November 11, 2023
Good luck with your campaign, Sir John. Unfortunately, rational arguments will fall on deaf ears. The believers in Net Zero have not been persuaded by logic, experience or proven facts. Unpopularity will be their undoing.
November 11, 2023
Cynic, ++++. succinct and time will prove you right, it’s already unraveling for the milibandits.
November 11, 2023
All sensible stuff John which the majority of the public understands
The point is who stands to gain from these ruinous policies.
Drill down and follow the money then we may get some answers.
November 11, 2023
Yes, the points Sir J. outlines are merely symptoms, the problem is the policy. Why not stand up and present the other side of the argument that CO2 is NOT the cause of global warming/climate change? There’s plenty of good, reputable, scientific analysis available if you care to look. Given Net Zero is probably the most expensive policy any UK government has adopted, I’d like to see it properly and thoroughly checked.
Start with these guys: https://clintel.org/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6MPjgL27ggMVAYtQBh1OqwiIEAAYAyAAEgK8XvD_BwE
November 11, 2023
We have not even had any particularly statistically significant warming over the past 150 years. It has been far hotter in the past and far colder we have a relative dearth of CO2 currently. A little warming and a little more CO2 plant food in the atmosphere is, on balance a net positive.
November 12, 2023
Correct, CO2 is not a problem, here a real scientist talks on the whole thing :- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2nhssPW77I
Also, why did Wokingham Tory councilors declare a “Climate Emergency” ?
I see the Libdems are continuing with the lie !!
Unfortunately they using this to push building a solar complex in Barkham !!
This is just going put up everybody’s electric bills, as we still need to pay for real power generators to cover generation when the sun isn’t shining !!!
November 11, 2023
I am shocked at the relentless ad campaigns still pushing this dubious product even after the warnings given by many prominent doctors. They are even pushing it on pregnant women when we don’t know the long-term effects on the unborn babies. Why are we wasting taxpayers’ money on a failed and potentially dangerous product?
November 11, 2023
Indeed follow the money and group think lunacy I assume. The NHS are still claiming that vaccine protection is far better than catching Covid protection so how on earth do they come to this conclusion given that the studies show the complete reverse?
November 11, 2023
Precisely.
November 11, 2023
Western governments are in thrall to the WEF, elsewhere they are enjoying the madness.
November 11, 2023
The government is still planning to give our health sovereignty over to the unelected WHO. If Sunak doesn’t pull out of this treaty soon we will be legally locked into abiding by any edict they want to impose on us. This is the number one issue of the day and ignorant MPs are blindly allowing it to go ahead. Governments won’t impose future lockdowns because they have ceded this decision to a foreign entity and we won’t have any say over it. They can even impose a lockdown because of climate change.
November 11, 2023
Interesting tweet from Ben Aris,editor of BNE(Business New Europe), yesterday:
“I just scaled back bne coverage of climate crisis to just report investments into renewable projects.We’re not doing big picture stuff in as much detail as we have as to be frank no-one gives a ****.
Investors are more worried about ME war spreading to Iran and sending oil thru the roof than billions $ damage done by record extreme weather this year…..green stories sink like a stone.”
November 11, 2023
Today, in Stoke Central I’ve received a large colourful flyer laying out ‘Our 5 Priorities’.
In prominent position is ‘A Better Way to Reach Net Zero’.
I have no time to waste in reading any more, whatever else it might promise, after seeing that sick-making slogan.
Such profound idiocy in the manifesto of conservative promises leaves me speechless and infuriated.
I look forward to seeing my vote contributing to the binning of this Miliband monstrosity.
November 11, 2023
@WILL. But only a total of 6 have laws in place. That of course includes the UK on a destruction course, all other countries keep thier economy and wellbeing as priority
November 11, 2023
Ah JR, the people who want ānet zeroā are the ālittle Englandersā. They can hardly account for this small ministry and have no world-vision.
Additionally, when they speak of pushing āBritain to net zeroā – Iām not convinced they mean Co2 at all. They want Britain to āknow its placeā, to āunderstand that we are a small insignificant island peopled by small insignificant peopleā – and all the rest of those phrases that we have heard from the Common-Marketeers/European unionists/Remainers/Globalists/One World Government supporters over the decades.
As Peter Shore one said āthey think that what Britain and British people have created and achieved and contributed is AS NOTHING!ā
November 11, 2023
Good old Peter Shaw, I was all for leaving the EU even in 1975 when I was a few years too young to vote. His and the others arguments were rational the remain arguments were mainly emotionally driven.
November 11, 2023
Peter SHORE.
November 11, 2023
Thanks.
November 11, 2023
Good morning.
You can’t. You need to repeal many laws, including the Climate Change Act, and remove the UK from various treaties and agreements, including those we agreed to (environmental EU regulations) with the EU.
A not very bright or far thinking Parliament me thinks.
November 11, 2023
Thanks to Brexit we CAN anything we like. Treaty Law is very low ranking, we need to return to Parliament people who will put Britain First. We are sick of feeling like strangers in our own land. MBGA!
November 11, 2023
Said Lynn!
November 11, 2023
@Lynn Atkinson; “Thanks to Brexit we CAN anything we like Treaty Law is very low ranking,”
No we can not, Treaties agreed at COP Climate Change conferences have nothing to do with our EU membership, they are UN treaties, indeed the last two jamborees (26, that the UK hosted, and 27) took place after we had left the EU, so unless you are suggesting the UK now leaves the UN…
Nor can this Govt tie the hands of any future Govt, so even should Sunak see sense, scrap our Net-zero polices and laws etc, do a “DJT”, pull the UK out of Paris Accord, when Starmer walks up Downing Street one Friday morning within the next 12 months, the first actions his new SoS at DESZEN will be to re-join the Paris Accord, just as Joe Biden & John Kerry did.
“We are sick of feeling like strangers in our own land. “
Speak for yourself!
November 12, 2023
Lyyn also speaks for me !
We must leave the corrupted UN and WEF and stuff all environmental papers on the bonfire.
Then we can be our own country
November 12, 2023
@MFD; In other words; ‘Stop the world; Lynn & I want to step-off’…
If the UN and WEF did what you wanted you both would be full of praise, same for the EU. You only consider the three “corrupted” because you can’t get your own way. No doubt you also still believe the last US POTUS had the 2020 election stolen, rather than simply being the less popular candidate.
November 11, 2023
Sensible scientists are virtually certain it is wrong to be heading for net zero. A bit more CO2 plant, crop and tree food is a net positive. Even if atmospheric CO2 double the resultant warming will be trivial. CO2 is not even the main so called āgreenhouse gasā. See William Happer for example. Anyway most of the low CO2 methods being pushed do not save any sig. CO2.
JR makes good points but I would add on point:-
4. Public transport from depot to depot is usually fairly empty, only at rush hours, and in the rush direction, are they fairly full. Statistical sampling errors mean people think they are far fuller than they are in reality. This as a full bus or train is seen by loads of passengers a nearly empty one by very few. If you sample properly at all hours and direction occupancy can be very low indeed. Plus you have to consider that passengers often have to take indirect routes and make end connections (these often double at each end with a car drop off or taxi). When fully considered they often cause more CO2 not less door to door.
5. I would add that heat pumps almost always use electricity as power which costs far more than gas so no fuel cost savings are usually made despite the CoP acheived. If this electricity comes from gas at a power station they make far less sense than burning gas directly at the property for heating. This as much heat is wasted at the power statiom. Far cheaper and more practical too. No need to have larger radiators also gas can warm up a property more quickly so no need to keep the property warm all the time as heap pump systems often have to wasting more energy.
November 11, 2023
As you say āSo time to change many policies because they do not deliver net zero and depend on getting people to do things they do not want to do.ā
Indeed but also:- Do not want to do, makes no sense to do (even if CO2 were a problem and it is not) and people simply cannot afford anyway. Especially with this net zero pushing, bloated overtax, borrow, currency debase and waste government wrecking the economy for many years.
On you No. 2 the government have just slightly delayed the ban on petrol, diesel and hybrid cars alas not āstoppedā them. There is no doubt that EVs almost invariably cause more CO2 overall per mile than keeping your old car also more tyre and road wear and thus more tyre particulates. Also they cost far more even after the fiscal and subsidy market rigging. So why are the government doing this exactly? Clearly it is not CO2 driven? It is surely just to price many people off the roads. This will be a disaster for the economy as people will have trouble getting to work.
November 11, 2023
I understand why you need to make your arguments the way you do. It is because too many of your parliamentary colleagues are so blindly committed to net zero that they cannot contemplate changing course. Furthermore, after over 30 years of propaganda, others who actually think through the issue and may have doubts are terrified of the general publics reaction if it is told “No, we got this all wrong and must about turn”.
About turns have happened before. For a time diesel was incentivised over petrol. But that reversal came when it was discovered that VW was fiddling it’s emission data. It was deemed OK because a private company was involved. But Net Zero involves the state and supra national bodies like the UN and mega NGOs who have nailed the Net Zero colours to their masts. Too much is invested in the project for it to be abandoned by the political class. For that reason the UK is doomed to inevitable decline to third world status despite your best efforts.
November 11, 2023
The resident parking restrictions are also used to force people off the road. A relative of mine is working as a doctor and for the next three month he need to start work very early (before public transport is practical). I could lend him one of my cars for this period but to get a residents parking permit near his house the council insist on him having the car registered in his name, registered at that address and insured at that address. So, just for the three months and then to revert back it is totally impractical and very time wasting. Also if you hire a car or your car breaks down and you get a courtesy car then again totally impractical.
He will probably end up getting UBER taxis which are far more expensive and far less efficient than a private car this as they usually spend a lot of time driving round between jobs empty and they need a prof. driver. Plus the NHS do not even pay him enough to cover the costs of the UBER cabs and still afford to heat and eat.
November 11, 2023
My council just refused to issue a parking permit after I managed to pay the almost doubled fee after trying 3 times to photograph bills and insurance Their reason was that the document did not stipulate that my car would be parked in the road outside my house. After arguing that my insurance allowed me to drive to other places and park, they eventually issued a permit after the old one expired.
November 11, 2023
Stred
Typical of Council thinking, and why so many of them are in a total mess financially and useless at providing any sort of efficient service to its residents.
November 11, 2023
In the Telegraph today.
āJEREMY HUNT is determined to give businesses a Ā£10 billion tax cut at his Autumn Statement later this month, The Daily Telegraph understands. The Chancellor wants to extend āfull expensingā ā which allows companies to write off the cost of investments ā as he believes the move would help boost long-term economic growth.ā
Landlords (thank to the evil IHT ratter Osborne) are not even allowed to deduct current expenses )never mind investment costs) current cost like (interest on loans to buy or maintain their properties) and so often end up being taxed at well over 100% of profits. Is it any wonder there is such a shortage of houses to let and rents are so high? āFull expensingā you call it! So will this start before you are evicted from office in circa 12 months time then Hunt? Labour will surely be fixing tax rates not you thans to Sunak and your vast economic incompetence as Chancellors.
November 11, 2023
Lifelogic
Indeed all this constant shifting and manipulation of the goal posts with constant Policy changes makes trying to make a long term decision on investment almost impossible., so the simple solution is to invest somewhere else, where the goal posts do not move much at all.
Problem is they are too dumb to understand ,as few of our Politicians have invested their own money in anything with a commercial risk.
Just like HMRC now wanting more staff because more people are paying tax on their State Pensions and Savings income. Set that additional collection cost against the small tax income increase, and no benefit for the Government at all, but it has taken money out of circulation within the economy which adds to its slowing.
Left hand, Right hand and unintentional consequences, which can be seen by anyone with some common sense.
November 11, 2023
BA : Just like HMRC now wanting more staff because more people are paying tax on their State Pensions and Savings income.
The expansion of the number of state employees is the reason for the income tax increase.
November 11, 2023
Indeed all this constant shifting and manipulation of the goal posts with constant Policy changes makes trying to make a long term decision on investment almost impossible., so the simple solution is to invest somewhere else, where the goal posts do not move much at all.
Problem is they are too dumb to understand ,as few of our Politicians have invested their own money in anything with a commercial risk.
Just like HMRC now wanting more staff because more people are paying tax on their State Pensions and Savings income. Set that additional collection cost against the small tax income increase, and no benefit for the Government at all, but it has taken money out of circulation within the economy which adds to its slowing.
Left hand, Right hand and unintentional consequences, which can be seen by anyone with some common sense.
November 11, 2023
I think I have already said all that I want to say about this for the moment, here:
http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2023/11/10/my-intervention-in-the-kings-speech-debate-2/#comment-1418540
“My view is that we must regain energy independence … ”
and if a net zero target is needed to provide the impetus for that then so be it.
November 11, 2023
A net zero target does huge harm to energy independence. It certainly does not help at all.
November 11, 2023
On the contrary it provides a convincing reason for driving to energy independence, even if that reason is false.
November 11, 2023
+1 Denis
November 11, 2023
DC :
There is no energy security when we are reliant on China, a state described by our security services as “hostile” for our energy infrastructure (wind turbines and solar panels) and for the metals and minerals required for electrification – batteries, motors, generators and cabling.
There is no energy security when we’re reliant on just one energy type – electricity. What happens when the grid goes down?
Where is the energy security when we’re reliant upon tens if not hundreds of wind turbines spread all over the North Sea and beyond and with vulnerable cabling along the sea bed. You’ve seen how Nordstream 2 was so easily disabled and Russian vessels have been seen around our coasts mapping our wind turbine cabling. Ho are we ging to protect our wiind turbines and solr panels whern they cover hundreds of square kilometers? I have calculated that for all our energy needs we will need half the North Sea by 2050.
Where is the security relying on intereconnectors for our electricity?
There is only one low CO2 emission technology which is secure and that is nuclear, which also happens to be the cheapest as well as abundant and reliable, unlike renewables.
November 11, 2023
I meant “tens if not hundreds of thouands of wind turbines spread all over the North Sea”.
November 12, 2023
Now that the UK is electrifying the steel industry, using only scrap, it will not be possible to make the heavy components for the SMR nuclear stations that are planned or the rails for the proposed railways
November 12, 2023
Stred :
Correct.
We will not be able to make new steel of any sort. You would think this could be thought to be an energy security issue not only in the manufacture of nuclear plants (large or SMRs) but also the manufacture of wind turbines. Offshore wind turbines require 1000 times more steel and concrete per unit of energy than nuclear.
I suppose we’ll soon be importing from China the concrete and steel as well as the turbines and blades. And they consider wind enrgy as “secure”!
November 11, 2023
You cannot circumvent the fundamental laws of finance and economic and the deceitful Net Zero agenda driven by political leaders and their backers are attempting to do just that though I suspect their motives are far more sinister than merely self-interest at the expense of the majority. Renewable energy will bankrupt itself when the subsidies dry up surely as night follows day.
A top down, dictatorial approach stokes discontentment and anger which will be expressed when the bill arrives and that bill will arrive at some point. No one will remain unscathed.
The naive voter, and they are destructively naive, continue to endorse the status quo. In effect they are sleepwalking into a trap laid by some of the most evil politicians this and other western nations have ever seen.
I am a fatalist so what will be will be. You get what you vote for
November 11, 2023
āYou cannot circumvent the fundamental laws of finance and economicā indeed nor the laws of physics, energy, chemistry, entropy… But politicians think you just pass laws to change them!
November 11, 2023
+++
Just think of the incredible damage they have done by trying (as you say) to circumventā¦or rather by knowing that it can not be done and using it as their destructive tool.
We are to be totally deindustrialised in an attempt to what? Even up? Simply destroy the West?
Try to turn a sparrow into a peacock and vice versa?
Be Satan and play God!
November 11, 2023
I think the intention is many fold but broadly, it’s to make the world’s population more equal, and to drastically reduce it in number.
Club of Rome being one source.
November 11, 2023
++
November 11, 2023
‘You get what you vote for’ – – no sign of any of it yet!
November 11, 2023
++
Yes but given that most of us have woken up to the lies etc. what do we do?
Not vote? Wait for āNone of the aboveā to become a thing? Vote as tactically as possible?
I really used to think that they were all upstanding and trustworthy.
What an idiot!
November 11, 2023
we all expected honesty, leadership and promises carried out. Just shows us not to believe so-called sincerity.
November 11, 2023
It depends on whether you think the Conservative Party is capable of being reformed so that it acts in this country’s interests. If you do, vote Reform and spread the word among your friends and acquaintances that Reform is the only chance for the future. Losing votes to another party on the Right is what really scares Conservative party managers – it’s the only way the mesage gets through to them. Then, if they wish to survive as a political force, they will have to change tack and adopt more genuine conservative policies, under a new leadership.
If you don’t think the Conservatives will be willing or able to make these changes, I’m sorry, it’s emigrate or start preparing for a future very different from the present.
November 11, 2023
Fully agree DOM
November 11, 2023
DOM – Until our whole system of government is changed, nothing will happen. Unfortunately we do not have a constitution simlar to the US. which at this present time is being totally ignored by the globalist Deep State. However change is coming and nothing can stop what is coming, NOTHING and the Enormity of what is coming will shock the world.
November 11, 2023
Many of this set of policies amount to picking winners, something governments are almost universally bad at doing. In fact the winner has already been chosen, EVs and electricity for everything. A better approach would be to set up the challenge and enable research institutions and industry to compete with each other to find the solution that meets certain policy objectives and that people will buy when left to their own devices in a free market. If such an approach is considered to be ineffective it would mean the policy objectives are probably wrong or unfeasible.
The idea that burning similar gas bought in from overseas is better than burning what’s already lying around in the backyard is simply wrong, even stupid. So that should just be stopped immediately. It is done because the Government hasn’t the will to point out the facts to the local climate catastrophists. So it follows that the pre-requistite for better policies is more capable and stronger government, that is simply not on offer and the paucity of ability in the senior ranks of Westminster and Whitehall is the real fundamental problem. No solution to that one on the horizon.
Back to picking winners. The best ways of promoting technology development should be well known by now. Just set up the challenge and press ‘Go’. Get someone widely respected like Bjorn Lomborg to run it; he has no stake in any particular outcome apart from wanting to find the best solution to a problem, he understands how technological development works and he understands the arguments on climate change. And apart from establsihing the policy objectives and financing the challenge, keep the government and all its quangos, especially the Climate Change Committee right out of it. Don’t let them anywhere near it, they all have vested interests.
November 11, 2023
Exactly
Many of this set of policies amount to picking winners, something governments are almost universally bad (and certainly in the UK appalling) at doing.
November 12, 2023
I think policy has been to pick losers, not winners. Why else would you choose an EPR nuclear design, or target floating offshore wind to power hydrogen parks and pouring money down a hole for so called carbon capture?
The aim seems to be to impoverish us.
November 11, 2023
Sir John has identified many of the illogical practices and contradictions of western governmentsā foolish Net Zero policies while their evonomies stagnate under the massive cost burdens associated.
Meanwhile, non-western governments plan to continue with increasing hydro-carbon usage in order to improve the living standards of their populations
November 11, 2023
The people who have proposed all this wickedness do not deserve to be reasoned with.
Short, sharp put downs should have been the order of the day
āThe world if going to boil!ā
Responseā¦āDonāt lie!ā.
November 11, 2023
The world is going to boil?
Not here in Berkshire – woke up to the forecast white frost!
November 11, 2023
Precisely!
Frosty chill here too.
And despite all the faux terror re boiling I donāt notice much local control of pollution.
Plus great proliferation of packaging in general.
November 11, 2023
SJR: You say the government has agreed to change its policy of encouraging LNG imports. Last December the government entered into an agreement with the USA to increase LNG imports from the US through British terminals. A few months ago British Gas signed a long -term contract with the US, agreeing to buy 1mn tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 15 years. I see no evidence of a policy shift away from importing LNG. All that has happened is that for the time being, as a result of mild winters and oversupply, less gas has needed to be imported.
November 11, 2023
It seems to me that the issue is more complex than Sir John’s analysis suggests. Taking as a starting point the scientific conclusion that the world is indeed inexorably heating up, with CO2 emissions the primary cause but with significant contributions from methane and other gases, the question is how does the world deal with the consequences? Inevitably, we will overshoot the 2% target – which will then threaten the 40% of the worlds population that lives within 100km of the coast.
The problem is exacerbated by an economic system that depends on growth for increased profits, dividends, market share etc. But the world has finite resources and vested interests that wish to enjoy increased profits, as a larger global population achieves a net disposable income to spend on consumer products. The vested interests prefer inertia and greenwashing to actually facing up to the consequences and going for zero carbon. This lack of urgency on their part is what frustrates the Greens and other environmental activists
.
The global population is now approaching 8 billion. The consequences of the projected increase in sea levels, increased H20 vapour in the atmosphere, the current exponential increase in burning carbon and the destruction of the world’s green lungs – the rain forests – will be catastrophic. And far more costly than if we grasp the nettle now and make a start on saving our lovely planet.
November 11, 2023
The solution then might be in reducing global population. This happens in advanced countries such as ours, where women have education and opportunity, with the choice of how they wish to live their lives. Population growth is rampant where women are treated as second class citizens, whose purpose is to have as many children as their husband masters decide.
November 11, 2023
Oh they have embraced reducing the Worldās population – have you not noticed? As Barbara Kellog said āwe donāt need to old, poor or sickā.
November 11, 2023
Sakara
You have correctly identified the biggest problem of all, which is a Population Growth Crisis, and Population Movement from one Country to another.
Every person on earth uses its finite reserves, and have their own environmental footprint, some small, some large, but a footprint all the same. thus the bigger the earths population, the greater the demand, the bigger the environmental problem becomes.
November 11, 2023
There are no environmental problems. Did you not know that you cannot destroy matter? Itās recycled. God thought of that even before Blair did!
November 11, 2023
Lynn
But does it recycle into something more useful, tangible, or beneficial. ?
November 11, 2023
There is no scientific conclusion. There is only bought-and-paid-for-$cientific-propaganda. Any scientist who disagrees, is ignored, silenced and prevented from publishing. Just like the Covid scam.
November 11, 2023
Have you read the Telegraph today? Explains the massive costs of āwind-powerā which produces no additional energy. Also the collapse of the production of EV cars. šš»
November 11, 2023
‘Scientific conclusion’, SG? Science never concludes. Scientists continually observe, ask questions, and test theories which are always provisional until replaced by a better theory. There is an observation that certain parts of the world are going through a slightly warmer phase, there are theories it is linked to human industrial activity, and other theories that it is not. So far the human-caused theory has not been demonstrated, for a simple reason: a similar warming in medieval times was clearly caused by something other than human industrial activity, and this one could be too.
Scientist following the corporate-funded narrative have shown a well-rewarded ability to ignore disconfirming data. Anyone familiar with the history of science, or who maybe just knows what happened with Galileo, will be aware this is not a new development.
November 11, 2023
Will it be catastrophic SG?
Are you one who is part of the doomsday cult?
Will the seas really rise several metres?
Will people just stand and watch as these waters go over their heads?
Humans are very good at surviving.
In areas of freezing temperatures and in areas of very high temperatures they have survived and reproduced in huge numbers over millennia.
November 12, 2023
Even if what you say is true, you seem to discount the ingenuity of man and his ability to solve problems with science and new inventions. Seems like the Greens have accepted that all that can be invented regarding this problem (if problem is what it is) has been invented already. Our forefathers did not take this view or we would still be back in the dark ages. We need to adapt, not try to change what we have no power to change.
November 12, 2023
Nonsense Goldie, donāt talk like an absolute twit.
Do you think that Biden would be buying a beach condo if it was going to be flooded!
All this talk of weather changing is fearmongering!
November 11, 2023
Over the many years that I have contributed to Sir John’s blog, I have been fortunate that roughly 90% of my contributions have escaped moderation and been posted. I do occasionally attempt to post off-topic material which I hope broadens the range of subjects, but I have noticed that there are topics which he is reluctant to post – any personal material which could be construed as libellous, the current massive price reductions on 1yo EV vehicles, doubts about the origins of the Chinese plague virus being some of the most recent.
However, “conspiracy theories” are a broad brush and this years’ conspiracy may be the next years’ true bill. For example, next month the US Pentagon will be publishing a major report on UFOs, (these days they are referred to as “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena – UAPs) following the release of a number of curious warplane gun-camera videos, acknowleged by the US Navy and the Pentagon as being genuine. Apparently, accompanying detailed military reports have been written by the pilots involved and submitted to the relevant authorities.
In fact, a cursory search on Google suggests that UFO phenomena have been taxing those responsible for securing the airspace over the USA for many decades.
The late Duke of Edinburgh is on record as having had a UFO experience. Do I see little green men? I do not. However, clearly something is going on in our skies involving technology that we cannot – yet – emulate. I would welcome the report from the Pentagon and I will read it with interest.
Reply I will not be commenting on UFOs and will not be posting others on that topic.
November 11, 2023
Reply to reply
Well thatās a mercy anyway!
However, judging by the madness that aboundsā¦
Maybe the little green men have already landed and donned their human skin suits?
November 11, 2023
They have landed in Germany, Harbek and Annelina Baerbock! Destroyed the economy single handed in no time at all – both āGreensā.
November 11, 2023
+++
Agree!
āTake me to your leaderā
āPhone homeā
āHow to serve ( in the culinary sense) Manā
Did they learn from the movies?
November 11, 2023
Now I understand your support, SG, for the little green man in Kiev.
November 11, 2023
“The government has dropped its planned ban on new diesel and petrol car sales but more needs to change.”
No, they haven’t dropped the planned ban. They’ve just fallen into line with the EU and put it back by 5 years.
A Not-a-Conservative-MP on Nigel Farage’s show the other day said that the unifier between all the different factions in the Parliamentary Party is that Conservative MPs all believe in individuals having a CHOICE. That’s absolute bunkum when we can see quite clearly from the Not-a-Conservative-Government’s policies that CHOICE is the last thing they are allowing.
I don’t give a rats whether other countries’ politicians want to cripple their economies with the Net Zero madness. I DO care that ours do. And making minor changes to the lunacy isn’t going to get my vote.
It’s a scam. And I don’t willingly participate in scams.
November 11, 2023
It is a fraud based on the Mann hockey stick graph interpretation and the wrong interpretation of ice core data. Mann used tree ring estimates prior to the post industrial increase in CO2 and then added the higher temperatures caused by heat island measurements after the huge expansion of cities, airports etc. The hockey stick graphs are still used by promoters of the emergency and they omit the mediaeval warm periods and little ice age. Other research has found that these occurred worldwide and cannot be ignored.
November 11, 2023
http://www.john-daly.com/hockey/hockey.htm
This article from the late John Daly lists the research which proves that their hockey stick is a fraud.
November 11, 2023
Maybe put the ban back to 2040 for cars emitting <X g per km, 2045 years for those emitting <Y g per km and so on. The current deadline is unrealistic … unless the aim is to strand people in the 2040s and leave them with no public or private transport. Yet we urgently need to reduce oil consumption. I'd impose a 60 mph (100 km/h) limit on motorways or dual carriageways as this saves ~15% vs normal speeds.
Cars as economical as the Audi A2 TDI 1.2 litre should remain on sale to at least 2050. It achieved ~95 mpg (3 litres per 100 km). It was withdrawn from sale for lack of further R&D Ā£Ā£Ā£, a scandal. We need to reduce oil consumption yet elec cars are an ineffective way of doing this quickly.
I'm in a rural area with a few superb bus services that run like clockwork. The buses I use are always 20-100% full. Few UK bus services over my entire adult life (~1973-) have been any good. It takes time to develop a route to the point where people realise a regular/reliable bus goes almost past their door and so they leave the car at home. Near-empty buses are hopeless for fuel economy, cancelled buses are a disgrace.
November 12, 2023
Well for you Neil, Iām in a country area of Devon which has 1 Bus a week there and back on the same day which lets us pensioners get food and thats all.
As for sixty on motorways, the majority do not even obey the seventy speed!
November 11, 2023
It is a fraud based on the Mann hockey stick graph interpretation and the wrong interpretation of ice core data. Mann used tree ring estimates prior to the post industrial increase in CO2 and then added the higher temperatures caused by heat island measurements after the huge expansion of cities, airports etc. The hockey stick graphs are still used by promoters of the emergency and they omit the mediaeval warm periods and little ice age. Other research has found that these occurred worldwide and cannot be ignored.
November 11, 2023
SJR presents sound policy proposals with solid rationale consistently made over a substantive period of time, meeting his normal high quality standards.
In contrast, this wayward government fails to act or even listen until they have wasted years of opportunity to change for the better. Gradually they realise that SJR is right and they are wrong. The UK keeps bad operators in charge needlessly. Waiting for an election to stop their mess wastes even more.
November 11, 2023
Now that we have left the EU we have the opportunity to change some of their absurd policies one of which is the compulsory EPC certificates for cost of energy bills.
Recently I had to renew an EPC for a mid terraced house where I had insulated the walls using multifoil quilts.This was not on the list created by civil servants and I was not allowed to claim that it worked. I had insulated the ground floor with extra boarding , felt and fibreboard, but this wasn’t allowed either. I had insulated the rear flat roof with foam insulation, but this wasn’t allowed because it could not be seen under the roofing felt. I had the heating and electricity bills to show that these were only Ā£800 pa. and are now Ā£1100 after the rise in costs. They give me a target after putting more insulation in or solar panels of Ā£2500 pa. The whole system created in order to be more accurate is dysfunctional. Why not just produce the actual bills?
November 11, 2023
Stred
“Why not Bills” because Bills and energy use can be manipulated for short term gain.
Certainly over a longer term (years) they would show a trend, but not just over a couple of quarters when there are so many variables.
The problem with insulation values is the actual real life performance measurement of them, the materials used, and the topography and exposure of the region.
All well and good to get a value in controlled laboratory conditions, but as we all know the real world is a totally different place, and where some materials are great in one exposure area, they may not be as good in others.
We are unfortunately controlled by Broad Brush Regulations from laboratory testing, hence your problem.
November 11, 2023
I had the bills over 2 years. The energy companies work out estimates over each year when they send the bills. Insulation does not vary according to position if protected, as it should be. The government has been persuaded by the thick foam board manufacturers to only consider their products. I know that my method works because the low bills also apply to my own house, where I leave the heating on all winter.
November 11, 2023
Yes I agree, that actual bills specially over a couple of years give a more accurate reflection than any EPC. My 5,525 ft2 house is very well insulated, but we are retired, work from home so here most of the time. My monthly combined energy bill went from Ā£103 per month to Ā£213 when the contract finished. People tell me this is still very low? We do have underfloor heating so 6 inches of floor insulation and polybead in the cavity walls, (I highly recommend). We do have all led lights, but our robot mower runs the whole summer using electricity, and we do live in Northumberland. So supposedly darker and colder than the half of this island that lies south of us, the half that lies north of us is of course, darker and colder.
November 11, 2023
Stred
The insulation does not vary, but the Performance of the whole wall/roof etc may well do in different exposure rated areas. The British Board of Agreement through which most products are tested and passed, usually have such ratings/conditions/restrictions within any Certificate given.
Certainly agree that any insulation product needs to go through extensive (independent) testing to be firstly assessed/approved before the Government will even consider it suitable, to be included in their grant/measurement schemes. etc etc.
Certainly the larger companies have the advantage over the smaller businesses, as has always been the case with regards to lobbying, and finance with regards to testing/promotion..
Foil based insulation is relatively new and a small player in recent years, but it is growing, in particular with loft conversions and timber framed buildings.
I have also completed extensive insulation in our own house and in particular my raised and boarded loft floor, but the Council will not take the insulation value of the 18mm timber ply boarding into account, (which is daft) so I know exactly how you feel.
November 12, 2023
The French produced multifoil quilts over 40 years ago. They were tested in the Pyrenees using test houses. Now there have been British products for 15 years. Some building control offices refuse to accept them, even with BBA certificates. They allow older houses to be insulated to modern standards losing only 2 inches of floorspace and without having to move radiator piping, wiring and fittings in bathrooms and kitchens. But government regulations prevent this and make upgrading very expensive.
November 11, 2023
Itās a farce. Unless you put in Solar panels and a wind turbine, you canāt improve the rating. In order to avoid the chaos that their specified āfailureā rates of F – canāt let and G canāt sell, that have added A+ so that everything can be rated above the collapse level. Just like the school results – expect A* any minute šš¤£
The stupidity of the public actor is hard to underestimate!
November 11, 2023
Their estimated return on solar is ridiculous. They don’t allow for replacement.
November 11, 2023
Not yo mention the sheer cost of running the heat pump! In one of my properties, a small one, the cost quoted for running the heat pump was more than the current energy bill (gas and electricity) š¤Æ stark staring mad!
November 11, 2023
Ridiculous. I did it on my other property when I was about to rent it out: changing the front door and some windows which clearly were past their best (I had paid for infrared imagery taken in January showing the huge leaks around them) and increasing the attic insulation to 10āā moved the house from EPC E to C. Only C because of the old boiler, absence of cavity wall insulation, absence of smart meter.
No solar panel, no wind turbine.
November 11, 2023
You should think about Polybead in the wall cavity. Itās fabulous. But it does nothing for your EPC. Plenty for your actual energy costs through.
C seems to be very average now that they have added A+. Even my retail shops get Cs, with single glazed shopfronts and the door opening and closing all the time. One managed a B! Try getting above C and ask them what you need to do. Thatās when the Solar heat pumps and wind turbines come into play.
November 11, 2023
Once again I have to point out. Co2 is 0.045% of Earths atmosphere. The UK produces 1% of that (0.00045%)
All the ‘net zero’ policies being forced upon industry and the public, if totally successful, will save an amount of co2 so small it is barely measurable. And will be taken up in weeks or possibly days by China/India.
Any sane Gov. would point this out to the world and withdraw from the idiotic ‘climate change act’
November 13, 2023
> Once again I have to point out. Co2 is 0.045% of Earths atmosphere. The UK produces 1% of that (0.00045%).
Actually human co2 contribution is only 3% of the 0.045%, so human co2 is 0.00135%, and the UK’s 1% of that is only 0.0000135%.
November 11, 2023
There is a concern, inside my not to favorite entity the EU, that EU & UK EV vehicle production is being used as a backdoor trojan horse to undermine the home-grown industries. Namely they want to see at least 40% of the assembly being EU or UK produced, turn that around that still leaves 60% of all production being done by the Worldās largest producers.
The motor industry is said to be up in arms about this ā Why? Are they happy that they are not manufacturers, but assembly plants. Are they happy that that the capabilities and expertise will leave these shores completely?
Assembly is not manufacture. Assembly is the way of bypassing import duties nothing else.
November 11, 2023
You are correct, my preference is for evolution at a pace brought about by major warfare. In 1937 the RAF used cotton covered biplanes. Ten years later they were flying at 40,000 feet in all metal jet engined monoplanes.
I leave the melting or freezing of icecaps to the sun and suggest the consequences should be mitigated via civil engineering or put another way, learning to live with it. The greatest gains to modifying our behaviour will be to our health and quality of life, but you are absolutely correct when saying implimentation must be with the peoples consent. Just stop oil is the antithesis of this, as are dictats from government as to what you should replace or buy. The flight to nett zero has all the hallmarks of repeating the mistakes we made in our rush to Covid lockdowns. We have the advantage of time to get it right.
November 11, 2023
Your first paragraph absolves you of making noise about the folly of this approach because it is accepted.
The EU was accepted, Covid lockdowns were accepted, globalisation is accepted. Doesn’t mean they are right and concerted campaigning against can sway public opinion so we should not be silent that it is folly.
That said, pointing out that the measures we are taking are pissing in the wind is no bad thing.
I am surprised you didn’t mention the accounting of carbon reduction specifically as this is almost as big a scam as the price paid for renewable electricity.
November 11, 2023
We, by we I mean the UK more correctly the Conservative Government, then this weak PM are misleading the public. Importing from the Worlds largest polluters without also assessing the additional damage done to the Worlds Climate is not pursuing NetZero – Itās the opposite. In addition, he is destroying the UKās ability to earn what is needed to respond to a changing World.
The big controversy at the moment is steel, for all the soundbites, virtue signaling, deflection etc. The PMās decision to give 2 of the Worlds biggest polluters our taxpayer money (it is not his money or government money) to close down and remove the experience, ability, and capability to produce specialty steel from the UK and just recycle low-grade steel, then to import this missing steel from these same Worlds polluters is horrendous and insulting. He is asking, not telling the UK Taxpayer they have to fund World pollution just to succeed in his aim of removing more of our traditional industries abroad. That is not NetZero that is UK destruction.
To remind everyone there are only 6 Countries (UK being one of them) in this great big world of ours that have lunatic NetZero laws in place to punish their people. Others have paid lip service to the dream, but the majority wonāt and have no intention to pursue it at the expense of their people.
This clueless Conservative Government lead by a weak PM and 2 failing Chancellors see UK punishment of the people, destruction of the UK and its capabilities as their big project.
Where is the thinking in this? Where is a Parliament in holding the lunatics in check
November 11, 2023
Apparently devolution (of all sizes) has helped the net zero agenda no end.
Maybe planned as such?
Much easier apparently for devolved areas to impose bonkers stuff than for a govt. to do it wholesale.
(Not sure why)
But maybe ULEZ proves the point?
November 11, 2023
ULEZ is a great success ….its making millions a day for the Mayor of London
November 11, 2023
but foreigners simply ignore the fine.
November 11, 2023
All foreigners welcome …..they don’t produce CO2
November 11, 2023
Democracy ā What of democracy
I hear what the politicians want, I hear what the UN wants, I hear what funded scientists want ā¦.but I never hear what the āmajorityā of the Tory voters want ?
The biggest deficient of this decade is the managed decline in democracy and ignoring the people
November 11, 2023
@Glen +99
November 11, 2023
Goes back longer than this decade.Remember Peter Mandelson’s infamous (but largely ignored) comment.
November 11, 2023
Maybe it goes right back to 1832 and the very Brexit-like Reform Bill?
Always struck me as a bit of a sop to Cerberus.
November 11, 2023
Well said – I hope some people in government are taking notes.
Talking about busses, which people use as a last resort – Around here they often run at full capacity, but due to scheduling and a lack of reliability people are forced to find other ways to travel.
Some areas see their only bus service stop running too early in the day for them to get home.
Not so long ago a lot of bus services were cut – That surely is a bad move if HMG is that worried about getting us out of cars.
What we do get in excess though are path and cycle-ways – HMG has allocated a huge amount of money to encourage us to walk or ride, but only along specific trails — They forget about the state of the roads and footpaths otherwise. How on earth can we be expected to walk or push a baby buggy when in far too many places the footpaths are damaged, uneven and often dangerous?
An additional burden is that so much ‘furniture’ is located on narrow footpaths, making access difficult.
When will HMG get the priorities right and stop being infatuated with netzero?
November 11, 2023
The Net Zero Strategy is a communist inspired scam taken up by globalists and energy grifters to destroy the Westās economies and freedoms with the economically impossible transition from affordable, abundant, reliable, secure and dispatchable hydrocarbon and nuclear energy to expensive, meagre, unreliable, insecure and intermittent supplies from renewables.
The offshore wind industry made no bids at AR5 and now say they require a doubling of their CfD prices to bid for AR6. The idea that wind is 9 times cheaper than gas is total nonsense and Net Zero will only stop when the money eventually runs out for the subsidies for energy generation, energy consumption and the expensive and insecure transition to the electrification of everything.
Net Zero is unnecessary. There is no global warming caused by increasing levels of CO2 (natural or anthropogenic) as a result of IR saturation as shown by the work of Happer & Wijngaarden whose calculations on the real atmosphere, including water vapour (omitted in the IPCC models), fit so well with the measured data that they even show correctly that CO2 COOLS rather than warms above Antarctica. Historically CO2 follows temperature as shown by the Antarctic Vostok and Greenland ice core data and we are still below temperatures. reached in the Minoan, Roman and Medieval (barley grown in Greenland 1000 years ago) warm periods whilst still exiting the Little Ice Age.
As Galileo discovered it is not possible to change the minds of those whose convictions are based upon a religious belief rather than by a reasoned argument and CAGW proves that if you tell a big enough lie often enough people will believe it.
The IPCC WG1ās own data on Table 12.12 (p1586) shows no worsening weather and why does anyone believe Al Gore that the āoceans are boilingā or the UN Sec Gen that the āplanet is boilingā rather than their own eyes?
Satellite images show increasing CO2 is greening the planet and āclimate actionā is only #13 on the UNās List of Sustainable Goalsā.
November 11, 2023
All MPās, Parliamentarians, those we employ to hold the executive (This Conservative Government) to account, need to get above the virtue signal mentality and ask why they have permitted the destruction of the UK economy and its Industrial base. Why is it that 80-90% of the Worlds Polluters are not engaged in this lunacy, but are instead pushing harder and faster to have their economies dominate.
It is having wealth that enables Countries to respond to events known and the unknown, it is part of a Countries desire to be safe & secure, to be resilient, being self-reliant by having the ability to generate wealth.
Why is the UK taxpayer being robbed of its money to fund the Worlds Largest Polluters ahead of the UKās own peoples, economy and future. Why is the UKās taxpayer funding the removal of UK jobs and expertise? I get quite taken aback that this Conservative Government will fund the problem and not the solution. The problem of course is they have sold the UK off and down the river, thier motives have to be questioned, MP’s not raising concerns need to questioned.
All MPās should look beyond āselfā, the next election and ask how their actions and thinking supports their electorate ā how do the get to serve as promised.
We have to recognize we have a government lead by those that by their daily activities demonstrate failures to support the UK or its people, or is it just refusal. Which ever way you look at it this Government is focused of the UKās destruction, the removal of UK wealth and the removal of the UKās ability to create it. Nothing this Conservative Government does supports the UK to move forward, itās all about the removal of the UKās ability to respond to events. Who does the Conservative Government work for?
Lets be clear supporting Foreign entities and States with UK Taxpayer money is not supporting the UK, look a Biden and the USA taxpayer money only goes to those based and paying all taxes in the US ā so the money gets to cycle around the system, not leave it
November 11, 2023
We are peanuts in the world as far as net zero is concerned yet we try to play a leadership role in obtaining it ; this a laughable situation as far as I am concerned . I don’t deny the fact that temperatures increase and adverse weather conditions result from it but , unless the major contributors take preventative action our position is completely insignificant . China , the USA and India have to undertake take severe controls for anything positive to result ; we can only wait watch and keep our fingers crossed .
November 11, 2023
‘The government has dropped its planned ban on new diesel and petrol car sales but more needs to change.’
The Government delayed the ban on the public buying new petrol and diesel cars.āThis was due to public demand.āBut they have not moved the starting date for fining the car manufacturers who sell too few electric cars compared to petrol and diesel.āTheir market intervention will still harm the public and the public will quickly be told the cause.āThe Government should make their deadlines align before they appear to be beaten into it.
November 11, 2023
The danger of Harry Potter’s flying broomstick (in politics and elsewhere in today’s modern world).
Great as Harry Potter is in parts, something I hate about it is the way Harry gets to fly the flying broomstick only a few chapters into The Philosopher’s Stone.
Traditionally, being able to fly was a metaphor for power / ambition. Both obviously can be good / great or bad / terrible. And in order to gain this power, in a healthy way, you have to go on heroic-like trials and humiliation to achieve it – as opposed to having it placed on a silver tray for you with no effort at all (like Harry Potter being able to fly straight away).
Harry Potter’s flying broomstick is unintentionally the same concept as Icarus’s wax wings in which he tried to fly to the sun. Our modern culture today is so much about having grand ambitions but without wanting to put in the effort / sacrifice. In the Middle Ages, Cinderella brilliantly sums up the humiliation and patience and perseverance and hard wor – or cinders – one has to go through to achieve what Cinderella achieves in the end – a charmed life with her Prince Charming.
And the same can be said for politics and politicians for young people today with social media and wanting to be millionaire pop stars and wanting to avoid traditional, hard-working jobs like plumbing or whatever or rich kids for the matter who want to live like Trustafarians even though their parents are only moderately wealthy etc ..
Lastly, I thought The Railway Children book was going to be boring – it was excellent. We need more of the down-to-earth values of The Railway Children than the overly ambitious Harry Potter’s flying his broomstick with no effort to get to such heights.
November 11, 2023
I understand your caution about CO2 being the cause of so-called Global Warming/ Climate change. But I think the time has come to say bluntly that the theory is rubbish & the costs of trying to get to Net Zero will impoverish the UK. Net Zero is like a religion which adherents refuse to question or doubt. But when those policies and decisions damage the economy and make people poorer, they need to be exposed as the nonsense they are. Your suggestions for toning them down are fine but they will still damage the UK.
Off-topic Sir John, could you ask the Chancellor to list how much he has cut Government spending in the last 12 months? His negative no room for tax cuts comments cost thousands of votes each time he says it. Is it not his job to cut government spending & make room for tax cuts? Without some serious tax cuts the next GE is lost.
November 11, 2023
It has postponed, not dropped, the ban on ICE cars.
November 11, 2023
So, Mr. Redwood has quite rightly pointed out the policies to reach net zero that do not work. He seems to accept net zero is a laudable aim, but does not suggest a plan to get there. The only thing I can think of is the urgent construction of 30 (?) nuclear power stations and a massive upgrading of the grid – so we could use electricity to run our cars and heat our homes at what would have to be a sensible price.
Reply I think those who promote the aim passionately need to engage more with the issues I raise about how
November 11, 2023
There is no point in placing rational arguments and facts in front of zealots, fanatics and charlatans.
The fact is, the lights are going to go out.
The consequences are unthinkable.
Call out these climate obsessed weirdos for what they are.
Evil, brainless, lunatics.
(I’m fed up of being polite).
November 11, 2023
+++++
Me too!
And NOBODY should EVER have been polite to them.
A little robust rudeness might have saved us from ruination!
November 11, 2023
Our apparent crusade in search of Net Zero at the hands of naĆÆve Politicians (or are they those with vested interests) is set against our ‘crime’ of emitting 0.8% of GLOBAL CO2. Together, China, USA and India, emit in excess of 50% of the Global total but Little Britain is doing more than any of them to reduce to zero.
No matter a true zero figure is a distant pipe dream and will not alter the Global output one iota, they still pursue their utopian mirage.
When are those who have the power going to wake up to the figures and use it to save OUR country from the National bankruptcy their OTT green policies are driving toward? Stop this nonsense now and let’s get our country back from the ravages of profligate libdem idealism and onto a plan for the super growth of our economy and a promising future for our offspring.
November 11, 2023
Hi sir John
The uk was covered in ice thousands of years ago the ice age , but without any cars or industry the ice naturally melted the earth controls its self in a certain way, the cliffs of Dover were under the sea a million years ago it wasn’t cars and mankind that put them where they are today giving us the white cliffs of Dover
it’s natural evolution of the world
Although we are defrosting large areas of tree’s across the world resulting in land slides we need trees to supply oxygen and take out the population in the air
The biggest threat to the world is the growing populations worldwide
But no one mentions that,
there is a need to control the number of children being produced
Thank you
November 11, 2023
you meant pollution in the air? Are are more and more people flying?
November 11, 2023
too many are
November 11, 2023
Ā“No one mentions thatā ā¦ apart from the multiple books that have been published since T. Malthusās in 1798, or more recently since Ehrlichās book and the first Club of Rome report (which appeared in 1972 āThe Limits to Growthā).
ā¦
The Population Bomb, Paul Ehrlich, 1968.
The Coming Population Crash, Fred Pearce, 2010,
Population 10 Billion, Danny Dorling, 2013.
Factfulness, H.Rosling, 2018.
and multiple others, some I am (almost) sure are available in your local library.
November 13, 2023
Actually, most of the advanced countries are not producing enough offspring. The exception is those Africa States who continually over-produce which inevitably leads to even more problems that become evident all too often.
November 11, 2023
From MsM āSir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown joins fresh Tory calls for her to go?ā
From the Internet(his wiki) Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, has previously been voted as the worst MP in parliament in a survey of constituents ranking MPs on categories such as attendance and helping constituents.[16]
Where is the PM’s support?
November 11, 2023
The Planet Earth can look after itself and has done for millions of years. It adapts to every event. It is politicians everywhere who cause ALL the problems.
November 11, 2023
As the late James Lovelock was saying: Planet Earth (Gaia as he called it) will look after itself long after humans will have wasted it. The only question is āhow long will that take?ā
November 12, 2023
āļøGot it in one! Paul.
November 11, 2023
NET ZERO = CONTROL. Similar with Smart Meters. The next time you want to buy a SMART device, remember the device is not the product , YOU are!!!!!
November 11, 2023
All the way back to Cameron flying out to the frozen North for photo ops with huskies, in the famous “hug a huskie” PR push… the Conservatives have been talking nonsense on this. He flew a long way, with big carbon footprint, for a few photos with some huskies, the whole thing was a nonsense.
And that has set the tone, its all about PR, getting the image right, and nothing at all to do with the substance of the issues.
November 11, 2023
āThe government has dropped its planned ban on new diesel and petrol car sales but more needs to change.ā
The Government may have moved its complete ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars to 2035 to align more with the EU but it has not dropped its Ā£15,000/car fines on the motor manufacturers (and hence the public) for exceeding their petrol and diesel quotas starting next year at 78% and reducing by 2030 to 20%
November 12, 2023
It’s good to see at least someone in Parliament has got the sense to see the true picture. Unfortunately there is no chance that most of it will be acted upon.
To add to the list of policy mistakes, take a look at cycling. Whilst superficially it seems beneficial, when you take into account the increased congestion as road space is taken away from motorised transport, it could well increase CO2 emissions, along with increasing other pollutants.
Also despite all the money spent, cycle commuting has barely increased at all over the years.
Has anyone done a fair assessment of this ?
November 12, 2023
John, everything in your article is true. However, there is no climate emergency, just natural cycles of climate, which in no way threatens life on the planet. The thing which is precarious is our ability to obtain materials and high-quality, energy-dense sources of fuel to be able to keep our economic output sufficiently high to maintain our quality of life. People seem oblivious to the fact that the energy transition everyone is talking about is impossible from almost any and every angle you analyse it. The issue is that whilst we are wasting all the wealth of the land (spending the wealth created by industrial output since the industrial revolution and trade) destroying the industrial base that made that wealth and sustains it and instead spending it on stuff which cannot and will not replace it. We should instead be looking at securing long-term fossil fuel supply contracts and doing as Pakistan and China, rediversifying back into coal as a priority and ensuring we are not at risk for gas supplies and that the transport routes cannot be compromised by wider regional conflict in the Middle-East for example. The current crazy trend of making energy scarce, expensive and unreliable is also eating into our ability to make stuff here. So whilst letting our existing fossil-fuel infrastructure and nuclear infrastructure and skills rot away under mandate from a hostile and crazy UN and EU mandates, we are also playing into the hands of China and Russia as everything to sustain us is mined, refined and produced by them. All the cash and power flows to them. We will not even have the raw materials to make military hardware let alone fight a war with anyone soon. The USA is starting to fall into this trap. As I replied to your article earlier this week we really need to also build and maintain refining capacity to be able to secure diesel and petrol supplies to maintain goods transport and food production and transport also. The eyes of the nation are off the ball currently. We are moving into a decentralised and multi-polar world and we are making everything work less efficiently, impoverishing ourselves, losing our economic and military capability whilst building up the economies and military might of our ideological adversaries.
It is time for a Great Reset back to fossil fuel and nuclear based energy security and get our farmers growing food instead of allowing supermarkets to financially cripple them and force them to ‘plant’ solar panels to get by. We are in crazy times, with craziness enshrined in law that will destroy us (along with every other German, “Guene-Welle” inspired Western country).
All mainstream parties are signed up to this UN coordinated suicide pact currently and we need to change course before it is too late.
November 12, 2023
I have built five new architect-designed houses between 1987 and 2010 as a private developer. These sometimes started of as our own home so were designed with our needs in mind.
If I were still building today, I would specify insulated concrete floors throughout and install a wet underfloor heating system within the floor screed powered by a ground-sourced heat pump. They are perfect for underfloor heating which uses much cooler water flow than a radiator system. Air sourced units are generally far too noisy and the latest ground-sourced units use several layers of pipe deeper underground, so an enormous garden is no longer necessary.
BUT there are very few existing UK homes that would be anywhere near being economical to convert to use a heat pump so my advice would be don’t bother.
November 13, 2023
All of the ways to net zero take us in the wrong direction. It is ultimately unattainable, but the damage the attempt to get there will do to our economy and standard of living is truly frightening. I can understand that there are those who persist in believing the tendentious prognostications of the climate priesthood, and who will continue to do so despite the litany of failed predictions that grows ever longer. Their beliefs can never be disproved until well into the future. However, the reality that the policies to attempt to get to next zero are unattainable, and very costly is much easier to prove. Much of the proof that renewables cannot sustain our modern lives is within the reach of anyone capable of O level maths and science. Yet our civil servants and politicians refuse to face up to the truth.
November 14, 2023
The issue to me is that the move to NetZero is a journey that does not need to be taken. The greatest atmosphere scientists all agree that CO2 is not causing a climate emergency nor will it – because it cannot. The science for this was known early in the 20th Century. The trouble is that once an idea gets into the mind of the State as a Platonic noble lie it is very hard to remove it.