Britain’s Green Consensus Drawing A To Close

David Cameron and George Osborne sound the death knell for “greenest government ever” pledge with complete sidelining of low carbon economy. The political consensus that defined action to curb carbon emissions and tackle climate change is drawing to a close. --James Murray, BusinessGreen, 5 October 2011

---

Greg Barker, minister for climate change, warned that the green economy must not become a “drag anchor.” Speaking at the Conservative Party conference on Tuesday, Barker said that the green economy must be “recalibrated”. Barker’s comments add fuel to the fire over claims that the government is backtracking on green policy and watering down carbon targets.--Building News, 6 October 2011 The political class of Britain is in denial. They just don’t see, or they don’t want to see, that they are on their own now. No other country is following. It’s exactly the opposite, they are all retreating, whereas Britain is saying, ‘Oh, we are not going far enough, we need even more reductions.’ Apart from the question whether it’s actually feasible economically and energy wise and so on, it’s politically nonsensical. -–Benny Peiser, Local Transport Today, 14 November 2008

---

---

When the history of the global warming movement is written, Peiser says people will see similarities with past movements."A lot of the dynamic needs to be seen in a historical context of apocalyptical mass movements - the anxiety, the fear, the wish for salvation, the need to solve the problem immediately, the concern that the disaster is imminent. All these features resemble previous movements. And from my reading I think it will sober up and become a more rational debate about problems and solutions. Because that's what we've had through the last 2,000 years - it heats up, it peaks, and then people realise that the solutions are much less radical and more complex than originally thought." ---–Benny Peiser, Local Transport Today, 14 November 2008 Climate change policy now threatens to reduce competitiveness by forcing up business costs. The Coalition should reexamine measures, such as the carbon floor price, that are more rigorous than those undertaken by other EU countries. --Andrew Tyrie, MP, October 2011 George Osborne is trying to navigate Britain away from what looks increasing like a second world recession. But as he so rightly said last week, we do not save the planet by running British business into the ground. A new era of climate realism is long overdue, and the Osborne doctrine calling an end to unilateral carbon policies is urgently needed. We look forward to its implementation. --Fraser Nelson, The Spectator, 7 October 2011 What is clear is that the politics have changed, if not yet the policies, according to Tim Montgomery, editor of ConservativeHome. "The government has decided that this is now a vote-losing issue," he said, following briefings from the government. "Soaring energy prices are what has forced Cameron to change. The government is now in sync with the vast majority of the Tory party who think it is futile to try to tackle climate change without a world agreement." --Damian Carrington and Allegra Stratton, The Guardian, 6 October 2011 The Coalition's climate change policies haven't changed but Osborne's new posture does suggest that he's realised the party and country has been going in the wrong direction. Political parties that campaign in favour of action on climate change (eg the Canadian Liberals and Australian Labor party) get smashed at the polls. –Tim Montgomerie, ConservativeHome, 6 October 2011 Over a quarter of UK households are struggling to deal with energy bills, according to the latest research. 69% say the government has got it wrong on costly green energy policies. --Money Expert News, 6 October 2011

---