{"id":377914,"date":"2025-05-11T11:09:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T09:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=377914"},"modified":"2025-05-11T11:09:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-11T09:09:09","slug":"net-zero-fades-as-the-deluded-cling-to-its-fantasy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=377914","title":{"rendered":"Net Zero Fades As the Deluded Cling to Its Fantasy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Vijay Jayaraj<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grand vision of \u201cNet Zero\u201d initiatives \u2013 by which emissions of carbon dioxide magically balance with expensive and futile capture and storage systems \u2013 have long been sold as the redemption arc for humanity\u2019s profligate modern ways. Yet, like a poorly scripted dystopian thriller, the holes in this plot are glaring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Net Zero was always a fragile concept. It rested on shaky and illogical assumptions: that wind turbines, solar panels and \u201cgreen\u201d hydrogen could reliably replace fossil fuels, that governments could redesign economies without unintended consequences, that voters would accept higher costs for daily necessities, and that developing countries would sacrifice growth for climate targets they had no hand in creating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of those fantasies held. Countries did not decarbonize nearly at the speed promised, even though climate bureaucracies clung to the illusion. Long-range targets, five-year reviews and international pledges lacked common sense and defied physical and economic realities. The result? An unaccountable machine pushing impractical policies that most people never voted for and are now beginning to reject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Net Zero were a serious endeavor, its architects would confront the undeniable: China and India are more than delaying their decarbonization timelines \u2013 they\u2019re burying them. Why has this been ignored?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China and India \u2013 responsible for more than 40 percent of global CO2 emissions in the last two decades \u2013 are accelerating fossil fuel use, not phasing it out. In Southeast Asia, coal, oil and natural gas continue to dominate. Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines are building new electric generating power plants using those fuels. These countries understand that economic growth comes first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Africa, too, is pushing back. Leaders in Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal have criticized Western attempts to block fossil fuel financing. African nations are investing in exploitation of the oil and gas reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Asia represents the global rejection of Net Zero, Germany and the U.K. are poster children of the West\u2019s self-inflicted wounds. Both nations, once hailed as Net Zero pioneers, are grappling with the harsh realities of their green ambitions. The transition to \u201crenewables\u201d has been plagued by economic pain, energy insecurity and political backlash, exposing the folly of policies divorced from facts. When the war in Ukraine cut off energy supplies, Germany panicked. Suddenly, coal plants were back online. The Green Dream died a quiet death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump funding cuts likely will accelerate the fall of Net Zero\u2019s house of cards. The president\u2019s decisions to slash financing for international and domestic green programs has severed the lifeline for global climate initiatives, including the United Nations Environment Program. Trump also vowed to redirect billions from the Inflation Reduction Act \u2013 Biden\u2019s misnomered climate law \u2013 toward fossil fuel infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retreat of Net Zero interrupts the flow of trillions of dollars into an agenda with questionable motives and false promises. Climate finance had developed the fever of a gold rush. Banks, asset managers and consulting firms hurried to brand themselves as \u201cgreen.\u201d ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) investing promised to reward \u201cclimate-friendly\u201d firms and punish alleged polluters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fallout was massive market distortions. Companies shifted resources to meet ESG checklists at the expense of fiduciary obligations. Now the tide is turning. The Net Zero Banking Alliance comprising top firms globally has been abandoned by America\u2019s leading institutions. Similarly, a Net Zero investors alliance collapsed after Blackrock\u2019s exit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the fundamental failure of Net Zero was political. Permission was never sought from taxpayers and consumers who would pay the costs and suffer the consequences of an always ill-fated enterprise. Climate goals were set behind closed doors. Policies were imposed from above. Higher utility bills, job losses and diminished economic opportunity became the burdens of ordinary families. All while elites flew private jets to international summits and lectured about the need to sacrifice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A certain lesson in the slow passing of Net Zero is this: Energy policy must serve people, not ideology. That truth was always obvious and remains so. Yet, some political leaders, legacy media and industry \u201cyes-men\u201d continue to blather on about a \u201cgreen\u201d utopia. How long the delusion persists remains to be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This commentary was first published at Townhall<\/em><\/a> on May 9, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vijay Jayaraj<\/a> is a Science and Research Associate at the <\/em>CO\u2082 Coalition<\/em><\/a>, Arlington, Virginia. He <\/em>holds an M.S. in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia and a postgraduate degree in energy management from Robert Gordon University, both in the U.K., and a bachelor\u2019s in engineering from Anna University, India.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The grand vision of \u201cNet Zero\u201d initiatives \u2013 by which emissions of carbon dioxide magically balance with expensive and futile capture and storage systems \u2013 have long been sold as the redemption arc for humanity\u2019s profligate modern ways. Yet, like a poorly scripted dystopian thriller, the holes in this plot are glaring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":377916,"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":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"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":[691829811,691829997,691826913,691819173,691818154,691818728],"class_list":{"0":"post-377914","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-green-hydrogen-3","9":"tag-carbon-dioxide-co","10":"tag-china-and-india","11":"tag-decarbonization","12":"tag-net-zero","13":"tag-wind-and-solar","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/OIG-79.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1Ajo","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":301914,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=301914","url_meta":{"origin":377914,"position":0},"title":"Net Zero Crisis Deepens as Government Says it is Only Planning to Build a QUARTER of the Carbon Capture Capacity Needed to Hit Green Target","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"15\/02\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Last month the\u00a0scandal broke\u00a0that the Climate Change Committee (CCC) relied on just one year\u2019s wind data when it advised MPs in 2019 that the U.K. would be able to rely on wind and solar power by 2050. This is despite U.K. annual wind varying by 39% from its maximum to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Carbon capture\"","block_context":{"text":"Carbon capture","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-capture"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/00421-WIRED-C02.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/00421-WIRED-C02.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/00421-WIRED-C02.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/00421-WIRED-C02.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/00421-WIRED-C02.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":352489,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=352489","url_meta":{"origin":377914,"position":1},"title":"Redefining net zero will not stop global warming \u2013 scientists say","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"27\/11\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"From the University of Oxford and the\u00a0Wellll\u2026.duhhhh! department comes this exercise in peer-reviewed futility.","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co%e2%82%82"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/04-climatechange.jpg?fit=1200%2C794&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/04-climatechange.jpg?fit=1200%2C794&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/04-climatechange.jpg?fit=1200%2C794&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/04-climatechange.jpg?fit=1200%2C794&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/04-climatechange.jpg?fit=1200%2C794&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":350682,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=350682","url_meta":{"origin":377914,"position":2},"title":"The Climate Road to Serfdom in One Graph","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/11\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Dr. Faig S Askerov, (self-described as the Former Regulatory Compliance and Environment Director, BP Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey Region, PhD in Petrochemistry Scientist, Lecturer) has\u00a0presented\u00a0a graph and definitions that can be used as \u201cExhibit A\u201d against the climate road to serfdom. At a time of political change\u00a0against\u00a0climate alarmism\/forced energy transformation,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO2)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO2)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/00greennewdeal.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/00greennewdeal.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/00greennewdeal.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/00greennewdeal.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/00greennewdeal.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":389986,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=389986","url_meta":{"origin":377914,"position":3},"title":"CounterPunch is (Partially) Right: Carbon Capture and Storage is a Scam","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"20\/07\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent article at the website CounterPunch titled, \u201cAl Gore Puts Down \u2018Climate Realism,\u2019\u201d responding to a TED talk given by Al Gore, says that carbon capture and storage and direct air carbon capture are \u201clike fool\u2019s gold,\u201d which neither reduces the carbon content of the air to a meaningful\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Al Gore\"","block_context":{"text":"Al Gore","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=al-gore"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0al-gore-ted-talk.jpg?fit=1137%2C659&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0al-gore-ted-talk.jpg?fit=1137%2C659&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0al-gore-ted-talk.jpg?fit=1137%2C659&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0al-gore-ted-talk.jpg?fit=1137%2C659&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0al-gore-ted-talk.jpg?fit=1137%2C659&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":209637,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=209637","url_meta":{"origin":377914,"position":4},"title":"Why Solar Power Can\u2019t Meet Net Zero Carbon Dioxide Emissions Targets","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"22\/07\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Net-zero carbon dioxide emissions targets are driven by climate alarmists and renewable energy rent seekers, eager to profit from the expansion of the great wind and solar subsidy scam. This band of profiteers and charlatans rely upon the notion that wind turbines and solar panels are the only means of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0after-the-hurricane-1.webp?fit=766%2C356&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0after-the-hurricane-1.webp?fit=766%2C356&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0after-the-hurricane-1.webp?fit=766%2C356&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0after-the-hurricane-1.webp?fit=766%2C356&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":232495,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=232495","url_meta":{"origin":377914,"position":5},"title":"Perfect Irony: Climate Cult Pushes Weather-Dependent Wind & Solar to Change the Weather","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/12\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Promoted by misanthropic doomsday peddlers, wind and solar are said to be the only solution to every errant weather event.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/0wind-turbine-failure-5-1024.webp?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/0wind-turbine-failure-5-1024.webp?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/0wind-turbine-failure-5-1024.webp?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/0wind-turbine-failure-5-1024.webp?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=377914"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":377917,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377914\/revisions\/377917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/377916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=377914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=377914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=377914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}