Seems to me that this will place Britain at the forefront of economic disadvantage.
You know, back in the day we had a similar problem like this where politicians ignored the people, and I think we rather pushed back against that sometime around 1776. Perhaps after a few years, we’ll see a repeat of that, but this time in Britain, rather than a colony.
I think some of the goals are impossible to achieve given Britain’s current direction and results, such as the folly of the wind power program.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/04/06/whoa-windfarms-in-uk-operate-well-below-advertised-efficiency/
In the Guardian article, I cringed over this, even though I have an electric car of my own.
The committee’s report says the new carbon deal will require that heat pumps will have had to be installed in 2.6m homes by 2025. It also says that by the same date 31% of new cars, and 14% of those on the road overall, will be electric. Experts say a total of £16bn of investment will be needed every year to meet the commitment. Some of this money will be raised through increases in electricity prices.
God help you all, at least until you throw the bums out. Full story here
h/t to WUWT readers PhilW, M White, Steve C, and Harry Trent
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son of mulder says:
May 15, 2011 at 1:06 pm
….
But then the bad news from the Sunday Times…be very afraid.
“Take a deep breath: oxygen is declining. A dramatic decline in oxygen levels on Earth has a direct link with CO2 from burning of fossil fuels, according to a 20-year study”
———————————————————————————————
The article goes on to say that in 45,000 years, all the oxygen will be gone.
We’re doomed! And the ST used to be a serious newspaper.
Even though I’m an oldish English guy (of 66 years and still going strong), I’m actively pursuing a move from this toilet of a country to somewhere freer that won’t be hit so hard by the imminent cooling. It’s a wrench, but I don’t fancy freezing to death in the dark.
Dean Morrison says:
May 15, 2011 at 1:53 pm
“This is very good news indeed, as it will drive investment in the technologies of the future, rather than those of the Victorian era, such as the internal combustion engine and coal and steam driven electricity generation. It’s the countries that lag behind that will have to import these new technologies from us, and they are the ones that will be economically disadvantaged.”
Ever heard of second mover advantage? Germany pours 16bn Euro a year from the pockets of ratepayers into the wind turbine and PV owners’, (who, in turn, had to churn out their money to buy the contraptions), we had an industrial headstart into that sector but now buy half of the contraptions from China, with a rising percentage. As they get cheaper over time, well at least PV still does; Wind turbines have stabilized; the later you get into that money squandering business the cheaper it gets for you, and you end up buying the things from China anyway.
Also, the electric motor is very much a Victorian era invention, just FYI.
A British civil servant was presented with a report advising the installation of wind driven electricity generators on the roofs of all schools in the country.
Realising the utter stupidity of the idea, on the top of the first page he wrote ‘ BALLS’.
On reflection he decided that discretion was the better part of valour, erased the word and then wrote ‘ ROUND OBJECTS’.
He then returned the report to the office of the Government Minister.
Three weeks later the report was back on his desk. Under his comment was written in the Minister’s handwriting ‘ Who is Round and exactly what is he objecting to?’
Alas, we are lions led by donkeys
Sorry Mods but I could not get this onto ‘Tips and Notes’
I was searching for disappearing islands before the global warming era and found these.
1922
Pacific Island That Vanishes [6 times]
1937
Tiny Island Disappears, Science Loses Site
1946
South Pacific Island Disappears Again
1949
Island Disappears For Fourth Time
If nothing is done with the links at least keep it for when you get another story of islands vanishing.
aargh, there I was thinking I could give up on this climate evil, like Jeff id, because enough people were waking up and I’ve other things to do, then I see this, and I’m still just as passionate as ever, like Jeff.
Anthony, would you like to run my Climate Science Primer (click my name) as a thread here? It’s far from perfect and I can no longer cope with updating it, but a lot of people have written me thanks for it. I think that one humunguous problem still is that people / politicians find Climate Science so frakkin’ complicated they feel they have to leave it up to “experts” to tell them and then we have this dirty problem with the Royal Society. And still there is no beginners’ reference point here at WUWT.
Plus I’ve just done a whole powerpoint presentation (click top RH corner of my page). I’ve had no comments back from Warren Meyer whose material I used so I have to assume he’s ok with it. Not all skeptics agree on my CO2 ice core measurement concerns, but I trust it’s expressed openly enough.
Plus I still advocate climate skeptics get a wiki going, to answer all John Cook’s nonsense, item by item, and have clout to present to the Royal Society etc. A wiki that has the WHOLE climate skeptics community behind it. That would be a real gift to our children, rather than lots of comments about how dreadful this is, that don’t find ways to fight back. I still have my “seed” wiki available.
funny.
margaret thatcher hatched the scheme to demonize carbon (though monckton doesn’t like to talk about that part of the climate wars.
see how them chickens roost.
darwin smiles.
Going down the same road as Spain doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense.
How are they going to produce all of the energy needed to charge all of these electric cars? When people arrive home from work and thousands of cars are all plugged in at the same time.
Windmills and solar power panels are not the answer, the technology needed has not been developed yet.
New technologies become dominant because they are proven to be technically superior to the current way of doing things; not because of government mandate.
If the renewable energy technologies were truly superior to the current ones, then they would be winning in the market place without government mandating their use.
I can think of no technology that has become successful because the government mandated its use. Few economic models are successful under government mandate also. Yet, you think this British move will apparently somehow magically buck the trend.
Government investment in research can lead to great emerging technology. But the marketplace is where it is ultimately decided if a technology if feasible or not.
A billion or so Chinese are collectively laughing their butts off right now…
vukcevic says:
May 15, 2011 at 12:47 pm
……….
From my experience of UK politics, one has to make a clear distinction between policy and the actual financial commitments. Previous lot spent it all. This lot has to borrow every penny. One thing is their political commitment, financing that commitment may be a totally different matter.
———————————————————————
vukcevic That is not a difficulty – think taxes taxes and more taxes.
Douglas
The single, most expensive, piece of legislation ever passed in the UK was the 2008 Climate Change Act. It will cost £18bn each year, which will be raised by increasing electricity, gas and fuel prices paid by everyone in the UK – and those trying to leave.
I have always been led to believe that a new government is not bound by the actions of its predecessors.
Repealing this one Act would do much to reduce our vast deficit. And it would, at least, allow each taxpayer to decide where their cash should go or not.
The cement industry has just been handed a huge bonus by this announcement. Each large windmill requires about 1,000 tons of concrete for its foundation.
How long will that windmill have to spin, to compensate for the CO2 generated in its construction, before it produces anything even approaching break-even?
When the nuclear construction progamme is announced, what are the chances of the fuel being Thorium? About the same as me winning the lottery…
Dean Morrison says:
May 15, 2011 at 1:53 pm
you forgot the “/sarc” tag. I hope you did, anyway….
I already left the UK, mainly because of the rot in society and the awful weather. I am glad I did not wait, or I would not have been able to aford to with the pound so damaged.
Unfortunately, for various reasons, I still have a house there. I watched the prices drop as the Global Economic Cockup dud its damage. No I have watched the once-mighty pound drop and drop. Every dead-cat-bounce, I hope for a rebound, but there just seems no change at all. Loonies like this will ensure its demise. I would say get into the Euro is my advice, as at least there is company (not security), but that is even worse!
Right now the Aussie $ is king, and that is because we sell things people need: coal, iron and sugar.
“sweeping changes to domestic life” = http://www.tellus.org/documents/Great_Transition.pdf ??
I’m glad I got out 6 years ago.
Richard Hill says:
May 15, 2011 at 1:42 pm
Why are the politicians being blamed?. Politicians have to follow advice. A politician has to rely on respected authorities, such as the Royal Society. However the poor politicians will be excoriated by historians if it turns out bad. A commenter on J Curry’s blog pointed out that the respected authorities such as the RS, APS,,, dont have any accountability. The politicians are accountable. Dont blame politicians, feel sorry for them. There should be a method to make the Royal Society and its counterparts like the APS responsible for the consequences of mistaken advice.
———————————————————————————
Richard Hill. While I understand your argument I cannot agree with you. Because the politicians ARE accountable they should look one step ahead of the advice given by the (unaccountable) ‘scientists’. The fact of the matter is that the policies promoted by the politicians (based upon this advice) will certainly ruin the economy while the advice proffered by the so called ‘experts’ is based upon unproven speculation. What sort of politician gambles on those odds? Turkeys voting for Christmas?
Douglas
son of mulder says:
May 15, 2011 at 1:06 pm
“But then the bad news from the Sunday Times…be very afraid.
“Take a deep breath: oxygen is declining. A dramatic decline in oxygen levels on Earth has a direct link with CO2 from burning of fossil fuels, according to a 20-year study”
It’s a all behind their pay wall, gasp, choke.”
Oh, please let the MSM take this and run with it. City streets will be filled with the hysterical, all of them gagging, some spitting blood. Finally, we will be able to see the hysterical from some distance and avoid them. Also, the non-hysterical will be able to see just how much of government nonsense comes from the hysterical.
Who would have thought the first lemming off the cliff had a British accent?
The Greens will be whooping with joy as the UK [and Europe] retreat 200 years….but… it reminds of a tale from the IT department of the Greater London Council [where I worked for many years].
A manager was organising a live halon test [Halon is a gas to replace oxygen to stop a fire]. He got everyone out – the door closed and automatically locked – but he was still on the inside still in supervising mode! Apparently someone got a fireaxe and got him out.
While the AGW supporters may clap and cheer as Europe moves back to the dark ages [with an accompanying Little Ice Age to add realism] they will eventually realise that they too are ‘on the inside’ with no job, no food, no shelter, no shops…..nothing…..
You have a point. WUWT would do well to have a page called ‘the lowdown’ or something like that.
You have a valid point, one which I have also made here. It is important to note that Thatcher is now a sceptic. WUWT has in the past featured this very point in 2010.
Anthony, I also drive an EV – although I had to build it first (still a work in progress, but it does 70 MPH – yippee!).
I share your concern over making mandatory changes requiring their use especially on that scale. If past and present examples of wind power is any example of what can happen when government imposes winners and losers, I shudder to think what might happen to EVs. They are a good idea and have a role to play, but it must not happen like this.
New ‘Green Deal’ To Cut Carbon Emissions
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politics/Deal-Expected-To-Reduce-Carbon-Emissions-Government-To-Announce-Drastic-Plans-Across-UK/Article/201105315992547?lpos=Politics_Carousel_Region_3&lid=ARTICLE_15992547_Deal_Expected_To_Reduce_Carbon_Emissions%3A_Government_To_Announce_Drastic_Plans_Across_UK
Jer0me says:
May 15, 2011 at 4:03 pm
[————–I already left the UK, mainly because of the rot in society and the awful weather. I am glad I did not wait, or I would not have been able to aford to with the pound so damaged.—-Loonies like this will ensure its demise.—– the Euro —-is even worse!
Right now the Aussie $ is king, and that is because we sell things people need: coal, iron and sugar.]
———————————————————————————
Jerome You are right about the UK and Europe but can you count on Joolya? She is hell bent on destroying Oz —-It will take a lot of bloodymindness od Aussies to boot her and her mob out.
Douglas
I am one of the “lucky ones”. Scottish and British (proud of it). I can afford to leave. Like so many of my ancestors and relatives, I am done with this place.
Latitude says: May 15, 2011 at 12:45 pm
2007 numbers list China as #1 with 22.3% of world emissions, and The United Kingdom as #8 with only 1.84%………
#102, Costa Rica, with 0.03%, expects to be the leader.