Government accused of being in denial of energy cost crisis
Net Zero Watch has branded the government's energy security strategy an exercise in magical thinking and accused Boris Johnson of being in denial of the severity of the energy cost crisis.
Net Zero Watch director, Benny Peiser, said:
What the government has published today is essentially a wish list of things they want to do in the next 5-25 years - but which has absolutely zero effect on the energy cost and the cost of living crisis.
To make matters worse, most of the projects on their wish list will have to be subsidised by tens of billions of pounds, making energy bills even more expensive in years to come."
Instead of easing the pain by cutting taxes and green levies on energy bills, which would have an immediate effect, the government is in denial of the dramatic cost crisis faced by millions of households.
Mr Johnson’s strategy, like Tony Blair’s before it, is an incoherent muddle of unrealistic targets and uncosted projects that helps nobody other than vested interests looking for multi-billion subsidies.
Anyone hoping for a practical, affordable and secure policy response to the energy cost crisis will be bitterly disappointed. Consumers have been let down in the short term, and the frankly absurd targets for more wind and solar set the stage for another wasted decade of failure and rocketing cost.
For a radical plan to tackle the UK's energy cost crisis see our recent NZW paper: Taking Back Control: Addressing Britain’s Energy Crisis (pdf)