28 February 2025

Price cap purgatory

The headlines

UK

• Price cap purgatory

• Seventh Carbon Baloney

• Back to Petroleum

• Growth, growth, my kingdom for some growth

• GB Energy cash in doubt

International

• It was heat pumps wot won it!

• Endangerment finding to be lost again

Etcetera

From the blog

• Is the ‘booming Net-zero economy’ really a key driver of growth?

• Net Zero Watch ridicules ‘fantasy’ Carbon Budget

• Has the world’s sea ice reached a tipping point?

UK

Price cap purgatory

The new domestic energy price cap was set at £1849, nearly £300 above the level when Ed Miliband took the reins of power. Unfortunate, given that his pre-election pledge was to reduce it by a similar amount. Mr Miliband pointed the finger at gas prices. Experts pointed out that the long-term increase is mostly down to renewables.

Seventh Carbon Baloney

The Climate Change Committee launched the latest carbon budget, its fantasy plan for getting to Net Zero. This seventh edition featured dramatic reductions in just about everything, from livestock to holiday flights and a massive expansion of renewables. The cost implications were simply assumed away (see also blog post section below, and Paul Homewood’s article here).

Back to Petroleum

BP, which once tried to persuade the public that its acronymic name stood for “beyond petroleum”, announced that it was scaling back its green ambitions and refocusing on fossil fuels. The news came on the back of years of poor financial results. Another business that has suffered the ill effects of eco-dirigisme, and which is now looking longingly at the fossil fuels, is BMW, which announced that Mini EV production plans will be reassessed in the face of poor demand.

Growth, growth, my kingdom for some growth

The government hinted that plans for a second runway at Gatwick Airport would receive permission to go ahead, but put off a final decision at least until the autumn.

GB Energy cash in doubt

In Scotland, concerns were expressed that Sir Keir’s pledge to find £8 billion startup funding for GB Energy seems less than firm.

International

It was heat pumps wot won it!

The ruling coalition had a tough time in the general election in Germany, with many blaming its doctrinaire mandating of heat pumps for a hemorrhaging of support to the AfD.

Endangerment finding to be lost again

The Trump administration moved to strike down the so-called ‘endangerment finding’, which holds that carbon dioxide is dangerous. The Manhattan Contrarian discussed the implications.

Etcetera…

Andrew was on GB News, talking about the price cap. GB News also did a full hour with Gordon Hughes on the energy scene in the UK. And on Talk TV, Kathryn Porter said that Keir Starmer would need to scrap the Climate Change Act if he wanted to get some growth.

From the blog

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