Guest essay by Eric Worrall
UK Environment Minister Michael Gove just slammed President Trump for walking out on the Paris Agreement.
Michael Gove ‘deeply regrets’ Trump’s approach to Paris climate agreement
In first speech since cabinet return, environment secretary says he hopes US president will have a change of heart
Michael Gove has said he “deeply regrets” Donald Trump’s approach to the Paris agreement on climate change and hopes the president will have a change of heart, in his first speech since returning to the cabinet.
The environment secretary said international cooperation was crucial to resolve the problem of climate change, adding: “The world’s second-biggest generator of carbon emissions can’t simply walk out of the room when the heat is on.”
Gove also said the government was not prepared to compromise on environmental standards, sustainability or animal welfare to secure a trade deal.
Instead, Britain would compete on quality and not take part in a “race to the bottom” to win new trading relationships, he said. “Of course it’s important we explore new trading opportunities, with the United States and other nations across the world but it must not be, and the cabinet is agreed on this, at the risk of dropping any environmental standards whatsoever.”
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In the speech at the WWF, Gove also pledged to deliver a “green Brexit”, although critics have pointed out that the Queen’s speech contained no planned environmental legislation. He also said farmers must prove they deserve future subsidies after the UK leaves the European Union.
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The full text of Gove’s speech is available here. In the speech, Gove praises the contribution of green organisations like the WWF and Greenpeace.
… Environmental organisations – from WWF to the RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts to Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth – enjoy memberships in the tens and hundreds of thousands, and also the support of millions more and a capacity to move hearts more powerful than any other set of institutions in our civil society.
And their campaigning energy and idealism, while occasionally uncomfortable for those of us in power, who have to live in a world of compromise and deal-making, is vital to ensuring we continue to make progress in protecting and enhancing our environment.
On everything from alerting us all to the danger posed by plastics in our oceans and nitrogen oxide in our air, to the threats posed to elephants by poaching and cod by over-fishing, it’s been environmental organisations which have driven Governments to make progress. They have demonstrated that we can, with sufficient will, halt and reverse those trends and forces degrading the natural world and we can, if we have that will, improve the environment we are handing on to the next generation. …
Read more: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-unfrozen-moment-delivering-a-green-brexit
Michael Gove is an interesting figure in Conservative British politics.
Gove was widely blamed for sabotaging popular MP Boris Johnson’s bid for leadership of the Conservative Party in 2016, after Gove abruptly withdrew his support from Boris Johnson, and threw his own hat in the ring.
As The Telegraph said at the time;
… “This was a carefully planned assassination,” an ally said. “It was systematic and calculated to do the maximum damage to Boris.
“When he saw his opportunity for an act of midnight treachery he took it.” …
Gove was accused of being over-enthusiastic in his support for President Trump, immediately after Trump won the election. But now Gove accuses President Trump of “walking out when the heat is on”.
As Education Secretary Gove claimed to champion the poor – but now he cosies up to the WWF and Greenpeace, and throws his support behind the Paris Agreement, which if implemented in full will have a brutal impact on energy bills. High renewable energy bills disproportionately hurt poor people.
What does Michael Gove really stand for? Difficult to say. Lets just say if I was a leading Conservative politician, I would not want my close ally Michael Gove to be standing directly behind me.
Gove reminds one of a used car salesman who just met a new sheep to fleece….or like fixing to speak to a large group of cons. And here is speaking to WWF and GP…so I stand confirmed…..
Trump has made good on every campaign pledge that that has been allowed.
Gove seems like a lightweight!
Gove is merely a typical Tory in the tradition of Margaret Thatcher so he tells whatever lie is appropriate to further whatever nonsense he is promoting at the time. When it is convenient to say something else or to blame someone else then he will. This is merely classic Thatcherism.
Richard
And is Corbyn any better?
Is any Labour politician any better?
Thatcher is probably the most principled of any recent politician. You might not like her principles, but she was for the main firm in what she stood for.
As you know, Wilson closed down twice as many deep mines as did Thatcher, and of course Thatcher inherited a base where heavy industry was in decline and coal for steam railways no longer required.
Whilst I consider that the closure of the mines could have been better handled by Thatcher and more support given to mining communities, the mining industry was destroyed by the unions (including those in shipbuilding, car industry and steel industry). It is the strikes of the 1960s and the subsequent loss of markets that came home to roost in the run up to Thatcherism.
Yes, Richard. He reminds me of Blair, of whom it was said: he always conveys the impression of the last person who sat on him.
What utter nonsense.
(with reference to the RSC post)
What is so silly about this is that Gove supported Brexit, and one of the gains that comes from Brexit is the ability of the UK to free itself from European policies on Climate Change and sustainability.
Much of Europe has banned fracking because of climate change policies. With Brexit, the UK should go full out on fracking following America’s lead on this, which demonstrates that fracking reduces CO2 by enabling a switch away from coal to gas.
If one wishes to reduce CO2 emissions (and I do not subscribe to that desire), then it is clear that the UK should close down its biomass and coal plants and instead use fracked gas. That would significantly reduce the UK’s CO2 emissions and would enable energy production at competitive price for industry. With Brexit, the UK should realign its economy, and do everything to boost its industrial base and give its industry a competitive edge over industry in Europe.
Gove is being very short sighted and as a Brexiteer, I am surprised by this. He has gone down in my esteem.
The UK yesterday announced a programme of battery research to support the new renewable energy world. On the same day the National Grid announced a new programme of saving consumers money through demand response and earning from their own solar panels.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40699986
A new floating windfarm is being built off the coat, Scotland had a record 6 months for wind energy production… and so on.
The UK, in or out of the EU, is full on behind Paris and going for renewables.
Trump’s policy is not swaying anyone outside his own supporters
Oops! coast, not coat.
Though maybe there is one going up off the coat.
Crazy isn’t it? All because the madness of crowds.
The full cost of these mad mad schemes, that do not in practice reduce CO2, will come back to bite. In the meantime consumers are being fleeced with exorbitant energy costs and hence less money is being spent in more productive areas of the economy.
Truly, a lose lose situation.
Poor old griff
taken the bait, drunk the koolaid, believes what people say, not what they do.
The massively amusing facts are that while everybody is frantically bigging up renewables and virtue signalling till they have w**kers cramp, the biggest increase in global electrical generation capacity are being powered by coal, followed by nuclear.
The ‘stories about renewables’ are just that. Stories to keep the greens from wetting themselves.
“richard verney July 25, 2017 at 1:19 am
Crazy isn’t it? All because the madness of crowds.”
Nutshell!
Except, Leo, you can get the figures from the power companies on terrawatt hours generated (or not generated, in the case of coal) and you can go eyeball the wind turbines…
These things are up and running/being constructed.
The UK, in or out of the EU, is full on behind Paris and going for broke.
Yes, apparently Scotland had such a record 6 months that they actually produced all the electricity they needed for 6 days.
Hmm, not sure what they planned on doing for the other 5 months and 3 weeks if they had to rely on windo alone.
Britain better stop the inbreeding program . Go ahead Britain sell out your population to a scam but don’t scold a USA President or the next time Germany wants to adopt you Uncle Sam may not be home when you call for bail out .
@ur momisugly richard verney
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Gove (or more likely his wife) is simply ambitious – beginning and end of story. TM better watch her step.
Yes, Gove has done a radio interview in which he says he has been a ‘shy green’ and repeatedly backed Paris even before this latest pronouncement.
His green credentials and new found enthusiasm were a great surprise to most British observers!
But not to you apparently, who believe every word.
Never heard of this twonk before this WUWT post.
Only a year ago he was within a whisker of being the British PM
Looks like Gove got the job under certain conditions, as PM Mrs May and her entire cabinet are all True Believers. (except Boris, who is clearly sceptical of the entire racket) There’s no way she’d allow a highly capable sceptic like Owen Patterson anywhere near cabinet because he’d nail Green Blob lies faster than you could say ‘I’m afraid it’s a gigantic fraud, m’lud’.
Gove is also renowned for his clear thinking and logic, so to hear him speak in the gushing terms he did of a completely useless and irrelevant Paris Accord was surprising and disappointing.
But don’t forget H. L. Mencken who said:-
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.. Still applies – even to the likes of Gove.
Completely agree about that quote re AGW. In fact it shows what a piece of genius its been. How else could they rope in every single government of the world? (bar NK) Climate effects everyone so there it is; the perfect catch-all vehicle. Brilliant, tbf.
Islamoterrorism isn’t imaginary, but it has been fostered…
The political chasm between Gove and Greenpeace is unbridgeable. Instinctively, they will never support him, much less trust him. (Not sure who would trust him these days.) Extreme green voters are not likely to suddenly go Conservative in response to anything he says or does.
So toadying towards these groups now, especially when there is not an election scheduled, needs some other explanation. It is not unreasonable to suspect patronage and money behind the scenes, involving some ‘green’ benefactor whether an institution, corporation, or super-wealthy individual.
He would also do well to remember the last time animal rights activists were making front page news in the UK was when they were digging up human graves of people involved in companies related to animal testing for the pharmaceutical industry. The whole banking industry were so intimidated by threats of violence that they refused to offer banking services to one company. The pharmaceutical industry warned of the consequences of such legally-required testing being forced out of the UK by intimidation. The Bank of England itself stepped in to offer banking services to the company in question.
Gove is playing with fire when he gives encouragement to such people, and he will receive zero political gain for such foolish words.
Greenpeace and the Green party are utterly irrelevant in UK government/in UK government policy.
Accepting the science of climate change and supporting renewables (so long as they don’t block the view from one’s country estate) are mainstream, entrenched policies in all UK (electable) political parties.
In order to understand Gove just look at his wife who comes straight out of the ‘Scottish play’. Someone sometime will write a play about Lady McGove.
While at the Department for Education Gove recognised the deeply entrenched establishment group-think which resisted any attempt to improve standards, which he referred to as ‘the blob’. That he is now unable, or unwilling, to recognise the equally entrenched establishment group-think of ‘the green blob’ regrettably demonstrates the extent to which he’s fallen apart since his bizarre actions in the Tory leadership contest.
Gove definitely looks like a politician, probably breeding that might surpass the royals.
I’m just speculating here, but it might be that Mr. Grove is simply puffing a bit of hot air towards the green blob, thus avoiding the blob’s massive attack (for now).
The simple fact is all the political parties in the UK are signed up.
That isn’t going to change….
As the government unveiled plans for a more flexible energy system and £246m of funding for battery research, Greg Clark told the Guardian that a smarter grid would “radically” bring down bills.
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“If only we can capture it [power from the sun and wind] then we can go from energy being a worrying cost to people, to being, if not free, then very cheap,” Clark said, speaking in Birmingham on Monday as he put energy at the centre of the government’s industrial strategy.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jul/24/household-batteries-will-be-key-to-uks-new-energy-strategy
We might possibly be leaving the EU, but that’s a power thing.
American ‘chlorine chicken’ will test Gove’s mettle, don’t and have never liked the maggot, but do hope he prevails in the chicken fight.
“Environmental organisations – from WWF to the RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts to Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth – enjoy memberships in the tens and hundreds of thousands, and also the support of millions more and a capacity to move hearts more powerful than any other set of institutions in our civil society.”
Seriously? A government Minister is using those groups as relevant to discussions? Greenpeace and FOE have consistently lied to achieve ends, deceiving their donor groups, on a whole host of issues
When any politician comes forward and actually allows a civil debate on environmental issues then perhaps I’d take them seriously. As it is they simply move whichever way the wind blows truth and facts be damned.
Well they do have many members, but they only indirectly influence UK govt policy…
It isn’t green groups which are driving UK govt support for Paris, the Climate Act and renewables – it is baked into the UK govt.
What’s the big good news in the UK today?
BMW are investing in a car plant to build a new model.
An electric Mini…
To be subsidised by taxpayers, the Government Plug-in Car Grant can help you save as much as £4,500 on a selection of brand new environmentally friendly electric and plug-in hybrid cars. ..
Left to its own devices with no government oversight or control the oil and coal industries would crucify the planet in pursuit of cheap energy. Britain through coal burning created smogs, coal plants near Beijing reduce visibility close to zero, Exxon Valdez would have been repeated many times over without control and penalties, BP destroyed much of the Gulf and paid a fortune for the pleasure.
It is also the case that costs per mwh for greener technologies is moving ever closer to carbon. The issue of storage has yet to be adequately solved for intermittent output.
But overall I think we are seeing the last decade or two of wide scale conventional energy.
– Consumption will decline with improved transport efficiency, building design etc.
– Nuclear will make up a larger proportion of base load
– Battery technology will continue to improve allowing greater range and possibly home storage.
– The cost of green technologies will continue to fall, albeit not at the rate of the last 10 years.
– Social changes will reduce long distance travel – on-line shopping, e-networking, work from home
Oil and coal have had their time as the dominant energy technology. The change will not be sudden but over 1 to 3 decades
– electric vehicles will be the norm,
– building design will largely eliminate the need for heating and cooling,
– genetic modification will reduce or obliterate the need for oil based chemicals in agriculture,
– food processing and manufacturing industries will continue to reduce the energy cost of production
– V8s and similar technologies will become a heritage industry – like rodeos (US) and steam engines (UK)
http://rochdaleherald.co.uk/2017/01/17/impossible-michael-gove/amp/
I think Alfred E . Newman is smarter .
Gove: NO petrol or diesel cars to be sold in the UK from 1940 !
Gove infamously announced “we need no experts”; no surprise he is now taking advice from the climate change charlatans.
correction: ‘from 1940’ should be ‘from 2040’ error due to the brain retardation to the years long before I existed.
@ur momisugly vukcevic – no petrol or diesel from 2040 eh? Pretty safe distance – typical polly talk. Hell could freeze over before then -or maybe the Russians will be coming – probably will too! – that was a big scare a-while back Wotta twerp.
The British “Conservative” Party is almost nothing but “squishes.” Wake me up when that changes.
Sold out to Big Green, and sucking up to the creepy WWF.
Globalism. My god it sucks. A world governed by drunks with fake-tans on behalf of crony lobbyists, all terribly green of course. Our future.