DECEMBER 1, 2021
By Paul Homewood
There was a need to build a referendum on Net Zero. A petition was held a few weeks ago, but since it’s barely public, it’s only gathered 19,000 signatures.
(You can register here)
Since it has over 10,000 signatures, the government had to respond:
National referendums are a mechanism to endorse major constitutional change; National policy debates are best determined through parliamentary democracy and holding elections.
The government has made a key commitment to achieve “Net Zero by 2050 with investment in clean energy solutions and green infrastructure to reduce carbon emissions and pollution”. It is one of the top six commitments in the government manifesto, along with policy commitments to help achieve the goal. The net-zero target was passed into law by the National Assembly with strong support from many parties.
It is clear that public concern about climate change is at a high level, having doubled since 2016, with 80% of people in the UK concerned or very concerned (BEIS Public Attitude Tracker Wave 37) , 2021). We also know that people and businesses realize that change has to happen – 80% of respondents in a recent survey believe the way we live our lives will need to change to address this. climate change issues (BEIS, Climate change and net zero: public awareness and perception, 2021). In the same survey, after being provided with information about net zero, 78% of all participants said they strongly or somewhat support the net zero goal.
Moving away from fossil fuels and towards net zero gives us an unprecedented opportunity to:
– Create and secure thousands of quality, high-paying jobs across the UK, helping to elevate the nation. Solving net zero will create thousands of permanent jobs in our re-industrialized heartlands.
– Building a safer energy industry, based on nuclear, wind, hydrogen and solar energy without reliance on imported fossil fuels, providing consumers with a reliable source of energy , affordable prices for warmer homes and workplaces.
– Reduce harmful pollution that contaminates our air and natural environment to improve our health and wellbeing, as well as that of future generations.
– Attract investment in UK businesses and industries, revitalizing our industrial hubs while reducing the cost of key technologies – from electric vehicles to heat pumps – to reduce bills and give the UK a competitive edge. Since launching the Prime Minister’s Ten Points Plan, we have secured £5.8 billion in foreign green investment.
The recent fluctuating international gas prices have demonstrated that we need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. We need to protect consumers and businesses from global gas prices by increasing domestic energy security through clean UK-produced electricity for UK residents.
Climate action is also important to strengthen the UK’s place in the global economy as we Build a Better Back from the Pandemic. The whole world is trying to take advantage of the benefits of going green, investing in innovative new technologies, building new industries and creating quality jobs in sustainable sectors.
In the transition to net zero, we will lead the way by using the best of British technology and innovation – just as we did during the last industrial revolution – to help make for warmer homes and buildings, cleaner air and greener our journey, all while creating thousands of jobs in new, future-proof industries.
Going to zero isn’t about telling people what to do or stopping people from doing things; It’s about giving them the support they need to do the same things they do now, but in a more sustainable way.
We must seize this moment to start this worldwide green industrial revolution early and secure UK industries, workers and the wider public good. Acting now will put us at the forefront of large, expanding global markets and allow us to capitalize on export opportunities in low-carbon technologies and services.
Department of Sales, Energy and Industrial Strategy
https://petition.parosystem.uk/petitions/599602
The nonsense they wrote really proves why a referendum is needed!
“National referendums are a mechanism to endorse major constitutional change; National policy debates are best determined through parliamentary democracy and holding elections.
The government has made a key commitment to achieve “Net Zero by 2050 with investment in clean energy solutions and green infrastructure to reduce carbon emissions and pollution”. It is one of the top six commitments in the government manifesto, along with policy commitments to help achieve the goal. The net zero target has been passed into law by the National Assembly with strong support from many parties. “
There is no law that I know of that only referendums should be used to change the constitution. Coincidentally, just yesterday Michael Gove announced that local referendums would be held on planning issues.
As for elections, voters have never had a chance to make a decision, as all major parties have the same Net Zero policy. Indeed, the Net Zero Act, as well as the Climate Change Act of 2008, has never even been included in any party’s manifesto before, and thus lacks any democratic accountability. .
“It is clear that public concern about climate change is at a high level, having doubled since 2016, with 80 per cent of people in the UK either concerned or very concerned.”
Since when are opinion polls a substitute for democracy?
In any case, polls show the majority of people are not willing to pay the cost of Net Zero.
“Moving away from fossil fuels and towards net zero gives us an unprecedented opportunity to:
– Create and secure thousands of quality, high-paying jobs across the UK, helping to elevate the nation. Tackling net zero will create thousands of permanent jobs in our re-industrialized heartlands. “
Experience shows that governments cannot “create green jobs”, and many jobs will be lost as a result.
Everything the government is claiming is in any case highly speculative. But what we do know for sure is that many jobs, possibly hundreds of thousands, will be lost directly as a result of Net Zero.
“- Build a safer, spontaneous energy industry based on nuclear, wind, hydrogen and solar energy without reliance on imported fossil fuels, providing consumers with reliable energy , affordable for warmer homes and workplaces”
Renewable energy is certainly not affordable or reliable. As for houseplants, solar panels are mainly made in China, as are batteries and rare earths needed for electric cars and renewable energy.
Furthermore, the only source of bulk hydrogen available in the near future is steam reformation. This requires a large amount of natural gas, more than would be necessary if we were to use the gas itself instead of hydrogen. In other words, we are even more dependent on imported fossil fuels than we are now.
In the end, heat pumps certainly won’t deliver the promised “warmer homes.” In fact, the opposite is true.
“- Reduce harmful pollution that contaminates our air and natural environment to improve our health and well-being, as well as that of future generations”
Air quality in the United Kingdom has improved significantly in recent decades and continues to improve year on year.
“- Attracting investment into UK businesses and industries, revitalizing our industrial heartland while reducing the cost of key technologies – from electric vehicles to heat pumps – to reduce bills and give the UK a competitive edge. Since launching the Prime Minister’s Ten Points Plan, we have secured £5.8 billion in green foreign investment. ”
Electric vehicles, heat pumps, hydrogen and renewables will increase bills, not reduce them. As a result, UK industry will be at a major competitive disadvantage.
BEIS talks as if foreign investors are helping us. They are not; they would expect a lucrative profit from that £5.8 billion, subsidized by bill payers and taxpayers.
“Recently volatile international gas prices have demonstrated that we need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. We need to protect consumers and businesses from global gas prices by increasing our domestic energy security through clean electricity generated in the UK for UK people.”
Fluctuating gas prices and ultimately supply, underpin the need to increase domestic gas production, both from the North Sea and fracking. They also highlight the huge mistake of shutting down coal power, which we should have offered an alternative.
Even the official scenarios assert that we will still need gas and oil for years to come, as wind and solar power are too intermittent to rely on.
Shifting dependence on imported fossil fuels into dependence on China for rare earths is downright foolish.
“Climate action is also important to strengthen the UK’s place in the global economy as we Build Back Better from the pandemic. The whole world is trying to take advantage of the benefits of going green, investing in innovative new technologies, building new industries and creating quality jobs in sustainable sectors. ”
No, the whole world is not interested in going green, as COP26 makes clear, largely because there are no “benefits”.
“In our transition to net zero, we will lead the way using the best of British technology and innovation – just as we did during the last industrial revolution – to help make homes and buildings warmer, the air cleaner and our journey greener, all while creating thousands of jobs in new, future-proof industries. ”
The final industrial revolution is driven by technology and driven by consumers, not a product of government.
Net Zero will lead to higher bills, colder homes and the loss of thousands of jobs.
“Going to zero is not about telling people what to do or stopping people from doing things; it’s about giving them the support they need to do the same things as they do now, but in a more sustainable way. “
Not telling people what to do? But that’s exactly what it’s about. Ban the only car most people want, ban gas boilers and tell people they should fly less, eat less meat, and use public transport.
Notably there is not a single mention of how much it will all cost us, the elephant in the room.
Aside from the red herring raised at the outset about the referendums, the whole reaction has been toward the belief that politicians know better than the rest of us and that these issues are too important. so that we can have any say.
But of course, that is exactly why the public must make the final decision.
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