Essay by Eric Worrall
President Macron has chosen to dump climate activists in his desperate struggle to save his political skin from the rise of French Conservative Marine Le Pen.
Is Macron finally taking on the cult of net zero?
15 May 2023, 8:13am
…
Calling for a ‘pause’ of more EU environmental red tape, Macron said member states required stability if they were to attract future investment.
A day later, the president doubled down on his remarks while on a visit to Europe’s leading steel producer in Dunkirk. ‘I prefer factories that respect our European standards, which are the best, rather than those who want to add more and more standards, but without having any more factories,’ declared Macron.
There was a reason Macron chose Dunkirk. It is Marine Le Pen territory, a region where unemployment is at 9 per cent, 2 per cent more than the national average. ‘The Dunkirk basin has lost 6,000 industrial jobs in 20 years,’ acknowledged the president. ‘We will recreate 16,000 by 2030.’
…
But from the left there has been only rage. ‘Absolutely irresponsible’ cried the Green MP Sandrine Rousseau, who said it wasn’t fewer environmental regulations that were needed: ‘On the contrary, we have to increase them.’
…
Read more: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/is-macron-finally-taking-on-the-cult-of-net-zero/
This is a far cry from the days when Macron taunted President Trump for not being committed to the green cause with an offer to US climate scientists to relocate to France.
Macron is now desperate to distance himself from climate issues a little, to prevent more of his working class industrial belt supporters defecting to his rival Marine Le-Pen. France has been rent by widespread protests against pension reforms and cost of living rises. The situation in France is now so unstable, France has cancelled hosting the World Cup Soccer tournament in 2025, claiming they don’t have enough money to support the event – but more likely, Macron is worried football violence could escalate into a popular uprising against his heavy handed incompetence.
Politicians selling out climate activists will become more common, as the political value of climate activism as a campaign lever plummets. Support for climate policies mostly only works on left wing activists these days, so it is politically useless as a means to broaden your support base.
By contrast, other crisis like the fake AI crisis have stronger bipartisan appeal, which makes alternatives like the AI scare increasingly useful virtue signalling props.
Macron was an early mover when it came to talking up the AI scare.
The big question, what will President Macron do next? Will President Macron crawl to President Trump, and beg for an endorsement, to raise his credibility with right wing voters? Will he support more fossil fuel? Will he try an entirely new strategy, to deflect attention from his failures? Whatever happens, this is quite a fall, for a French President who promised to rule like a Roman God.
And Macron is not as far up the creek as the German Greens, who also oppose nuclear power. I think he may be worried about a Sri Lanka repeat.
The problem is the European Commission.
The whole edifice is corrupt. In the first place a Commissioner signs an oath to uphold the interests of the EU over and above their nation member state. The commissioners are all placepeople who are rewarded for favours and services rendered – eg Leon Brittan, Peter Mandelson, Neil Kinnock* (who fired the auditor for revealing the alarming scale of… corruption) and that unknown trade union person** Blair promoted – via arm-twisting and ear-stroking in Brussels – to Foreign Representative.
Only the commission can draft directives (laws) and Europarl rubber stamps them. Then it’s up to the members how they go about achieving it. To all intents and purposes it’s a Politburo.
‘On the contrary, we have to increase them.’
So Macron has a problem. Should the commission draft new directives and they [predictably] pass into law, he’ll have no choice. For my money, Brussels is Barking Central.
Populism – as any deviation from the political narratives is known – isn’t going to go away any time soon. If anything, it could well increase as the net zero policies of the EU are forced by the elites at the top onto the [low-information] people at the bottom.
Macron still has a pensions disaster on his hands. Maybe that’s what the factories are really for…..
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-131252/Kinnock-tried-gag-claims-EU-whistleblower.html** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Ashton
That’s the EUSSR
I’ll believe this Leopard has changed his spots when he starts rolling back the Eco-Nazi regulations. He can start by abolishing EV mandates.
I suspect this call to put the brakes on the accelerating stupidity will last until he wins re-election, then his goose-stepping true self will emerge again.
“The big question, what will President Macron do next? “
He’s going nuclear, his only option. He should have done it years ago, about the time he thought it was a good idea to shut down 50% of the reactors in France, moron.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/france-to-speed-up-nuclear-power-deployment/
There is so much hate for that man in France right now it wouldn’t surprise me if someone had a serious go at bumping him off.
“This is a far cry from the days when Macron taunted President Trump”
That’s another aspect of Macron’s incompetence – mistaunting.
According the link provided it is 2025 Rugby League World Cup (not soccer) that France withdrew from hosting due to financial issues. And now Australia is contemplating hosting the event.
2026 FIFA World Cup (soccer) will be hosted by Canada, Mexico and USA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup
Now, now. Don’t knock it: this is just the beginning of the clash between scientific reality and sanctimonious virtual virtue!
As in the Brad Young song, reality is a bitch.
The elites always tell us the US can learn a thing or two from the French, except when it’s something sensible.
You really identified the root cause amongst our vote smuckering politicians.
Warning! Warning! Macaroon! Temporary breach of dooming threshold ahead-
World set to ‘temporarily’ breach major climate threshold in next five years (msn.com)
Increase environmental regulations immediately and cast the last of the virgins into the turbine blades.
The people are feeling the ‘Green’ negative influences on their lifestyle and reacting. As long as it was just virtue signaling they were OK with it. Macron knows their discontent and is doing what any politician does …. going with the flow.
As I recall, Roman Gods used to rape girls while disguised as swans, bulls or showers of gold.
Perhaps we’d better not go there…
I thought the next World Cup soccer tournament was scheduled for Canada, the US and Mexico in 2026. Regardless, like many world leaders, Macron is realizing that the various climate targets are largely unattainable without causing massive economic disruptions and consumer unrest which are likely to lead to the fall of governments, and his could easily be the first to be voted out.
I applaud the author for calling out the AI hoax. The same tax farmer who rode the climate crisis to obtain billions for his electric car is now selling the AI threat and will soon reap billions to save us from the AI.