{"id":293019,"date":"2023-12-29T14:44:08","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T13:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=293019"},"modified":"2023-12-29T14:44:10","modified_gmt":"2023-12-29T13:44:10","slug":"net-zero-is-about-to-get-even-more-painful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=293019","title":{"rendered":"Net zero is about to get even more painful"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Few would challenge the need to decarbonise \u2013 but our current approach will be economically ruinous<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By ANNABEL DENHAM<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human beings are an adaptable species \u2013 which is fortunate, given that modern-day politicians incessantly foist new laws, rules and regulations on us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In few areas of public policy is this more exhaustive than net zero. So we\u2019ve grown accustomed to paying 50p for a plastic bag in some supermarkets. Driving in many cities now brings an array of charges, and that\u2019s before bewildered motorists accidentally stray into a new bus or cycle lane, yet still we just shrug. The Telegraph<\/a> has the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of October this year, single-use plastic straws, bowls, trays and cutlery have been banned, but seldom do we complain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the wider green drive is paying dividends, of sorts. This week it was reported Britain has become the first major economy to halve its carbon emissions<\/a>. Curiously, the news has not been widely shared nor lauded by the nation\u2019s usually noisy eco-fanatics. Perhaps it doesn\u2019t fit their common refrain that the Government \u201cisn\u2019t doing anything\u201d about climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people may think this reduction has been painless, but they\u2019d be wrong. While the minor inconveniences can be downplayed, the costs should not be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green levies now make up a significant proportion of energy bills. Restrictions on new North Sea developments and a windfall tax are likely to have combined to drive up energy bills further at a time when the post-Covid rebound and war in Ukraine had already sent them soaring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Progress on environmental aims may have been aided by the failure of successive governments to build homes and lockdowns, but those policies have themselves wrought enormous harm on the UK economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has, however, been relatively straightforward. The decarbonisation of power and offshoring of heavy industry, for instance, accelerated an existing trend. The consumption of intermittent renewables was able to increase because fossil fuels could be relied on to provide baseload power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next half will be much more difficult, clobbering the economy and imposing massive costs on the consumer. Conscious that the public\u2019s patience may begin to wear thin, the Prime Minister earlier this year promised a more \u201cpragmatic, proportionate and realistic approach\u201d to net zero. This primarily involved pushing back the deadline for the end of new petrol and diesel cars<\/a> and the phasing out of gas boilers \u2013 but even the new 2035 date will be a stretch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the subsidies and the exemptions from resident parking permits or congestion charges, only a small proportion of vehicles in the UK are currently electric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The charging infrastructure is hopelessly inadequate and battery duration is prohibitive for many. Meanwhile, the Government is shovelling money towards homeowners to boost heat pump uptake, yet is falling far short of its annual installation targets.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bigger problem is that Rishi Sunak has far less wriggle room than he might have voters believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the 2050 net zero target \u2013 the most consequential economic policy decision for generations, made by a piece of secondary legislation without a proper parliamentary debate \u2013 wasn\u2019t restrictive enough, the Government is obliged to set binding, five-year carbon budgets which cap the maximum amount of emissions allowed during each period. Ministers face legal action if they fail to do enough to reach them, as judged in part by the apparatchiks on the Climate Change Committee (CCC) quango.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are currently on the fourth (2023-27) carbon budget, which requires a 52pc fall in emissions compared with 1990. This might be achievable, but the fifth and sixth (involving a 77pc fall by 2037) surely won\u2019t be, at least not without a walloping blow to our economy, freedoms and living standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its sixth Carbon Budget Paper, the CCC, which ostensibly provides advice to the Government but often acts more like an eco-activist NGO, advises homeowners to turn on their heating in the afternoon, so that they can turn it off again in the evening when demand for electricity is higher. Rishi Sunak was ridiculed when, in September, he announced there will be no tax on meat nor new levies on aviation, as though such ideas were preposterous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet they\u2019re right there in this document, which says that around 10pc of emissions saving will come from \u201cchanges that reduce the demand for carbon-intensive activity\u201d \u2013 particularly \u201can accelerated shift in diets away from meat and dairy products… slower growth in flights, and reductions in travel demand\u201d. Will the public tolerate such radical changes to their lifestyles, ones that may not even be necessary?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few would challenge the need to decarbonise, but our current, highly dirigiste approach will be economically ruinous. There will be huge waste, with the taxpayer footing the bill: when the Government asked the economist Dieter Helm to look into what it was doing to meet the net zero target, he concluded that up to \u00a3100bn had been squandered, largely from investment in technologies which hadn\u2019t matured to the point where they were cheaper than the alternative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Human beings are an adaptable species \u2013 which is fortunate, given that modern-day politicians incessantly foist new laws, rules and regulations on us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":293022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Human beings are an adaptable species \u2013 which is fortunate, given that modern-day politicians incessantly foist new laws, rules and regulations on us.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818056,691823159,691818154,691819094,691822742],"class_list":{"0":"post-293019","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-change","9":"tag-climate-change-committee-ccc","10":"tag-net-zero","11":"tag-renewable-green-energy","12":"tag-rules-and-regulations","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/OIG-2023-08-13T120839.002.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1ee7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":411725,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=411725","url_meta":{"origin":293019,"position":0},"title":"NY Politicians Face Climate Act Consequences","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/11\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"There has been a new development for New York\u2019s Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act (Climate Act) net-zero plan. On Oct. 24, 2025, the New York Supreme Court issued a decision and order in a case pitting environmental organizations against the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0AQPUqJ2BPYmaGqwSShpVng-Y6DsMzqHe9L0-Uud2RerLLnhuZ0QhmbpJKcCrRXURNvMZWK107l8FRCtqa5eZuki6Nc637dOEVxsxdYbJwwFHDm2fpAvvPPne6QnD0Uw-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C597&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0AQPUqJ2BPYmaGqwSShpVng-Y6DsMzqHe9L0-Uud2RerLLnhuZ0QhmbpJKcCrRXURNvMZWK107l8FRCtqa5eZuki6Nc637dOEVxsxdYbJwwFHDm2fpAvvPPne6QnD0Uw-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C597&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0AQPUqJ2BPYmaGqwSShpVng-Y6DsMzqHe9L0-Uud2RerLLnhuZ0QhmbpJKcCrRXURNvMZWK107l8FRCtqa5eZuki6Nc637dOEVxsxdYbJwwFHDm2fpAvvPPne6QnD0Uw-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C597&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0AQPUqJ2BPYmaGqwSShpVng-Y6DsMzqHe9L0-Uud2RerLLnhuZ0QhmbpJKcCrRXURNvMZWK107l8FRCtqa5eZuki6Nc637dOEVxsxdYbJwwFHDm2fpAvvPPne6QnD0Uw-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C597&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0AQPUqJ2BPYmaGqwSShpVng-Y6DsMzqHe9L0-Uud2RerLLnhuZ0QhmbpJKcCrRXURNvMZWK107l8FRCtqa5eZuki6Nc637dOEVxsxdYbJwwFHDm2fpAvvPPne6QnD0Uw-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C597&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":209595,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=209595","url_meta":{"origin":293019,"position":1},"title":"UK High Court: Net Zero Policy Violates the Climate Change Act","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"21\/07\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Essay by Eric Worrall The UK High Court has ruled the government is not providing enough detail on how they plan to cut CO2 emissions. 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That this is it for the Earth \u2014 that people have had their run on this planet.","rel":"","context":"In \"climate activists\"","block_context":{"text":"climate activists","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-activists"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0Morano-fox-and-friends-climate-crazies-glue-hands-to-airport.jpg?fit=1200%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0Morano-fox-and-friends-climate-crazies-glue-hands-to-airport.jpg?fit=1200%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0Morano-fox-and-friends-climate-crazies-glue-hands-to-airport.jpg?fit=1200%2C576&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0Morano-fox-and-friends-climate-crazies-glue-hands-to-airport.jpg?fit=1200%2C576&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0Morano-fox-and-friends-climate-crazies-glue-hands-to-airport.jpg?fit=1200%2C576&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":363198,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=363198","url_meta":{"origin":293019,"position":4},"title":"New Paper by The Heartland Institute Dissects How Carbon Capture and Storage Projects Threaten Property Rights","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"24\/01\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Capturing and storing carbon dioxide is also a massive waste of resources and causes other harms","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon capture and storage (CCS)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon capture and storage (CCS)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-capture-and-storage-ccs"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Screenshot-2025-01-24-135524.png?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Screenshot-2025-01-24-135524.png?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Screenshot-2025-01-24-135524.png?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Screenshot-2025-01-24-135524.png?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Screenshot-2025-01-24-135524.png?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":219494,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=219494","url_meta":{"origin":293019,"position":5},"title":"SEC Not Climate Change Enforcer","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"18\/09\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"It should junk its proposed disclosure rule, which is clearly unconstitutional as per West Virginia v. 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