Nut Zero
If you haven’t heard the phrase Net Zero in recent years, you must have been living under a rock. If that is the case or if you are no au fait with it, here is a very brief refutation.
Net zero refers to net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases. The bottom line is we are being told that unless we reduce especially carbon dioxide emissions, the Earth will heat up, the polar caps will melt, sea levels will rise, and many coastal areas will be flooded. There is a lot more to it than that, but the bottom line is that we must stop burning fossil fuels in order to save the planet. There are a few other things we must do as well, like cull most of the cows in Ireland and close most of the farms in the Netherlands, which in spite of its diminutive size is one of the world’s largest exporters of food including dairy produce.
How seriously are we to take claims of global warming? The photograph below is a simple refutation. It is the principal home of Barack and Michelle Obama on the island of Martha’s Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts. The former President would have you believe he believes in the threat of climate change, which begs the question why does he choose to live here? Obviously because he doesn’t believe in it.
Barack Obama’s is far from the most extreme case of climate change fanaticism, and he is far from the biggest hypocrite. Private jets are a massive contributor to our so-called carbon footprint. People like John Kerry and Bill Gates, who are major proselytisers of this dogma seem to spend most of their lives zipping around the world in private jets warning us plebs to use less oil, read less energy.
There is a lot more to this, but another refutation and an enormous stumbling block is the combination of China and India. Between them, these close neighbours have a combined population of around 30% of the globe, and they have no intention of joining this insane race. Why should they? In 2021, Prime Minister Modi said India will become carbon neutral by 2070, in other words long after he has departed this Earth.
Closer to home, Ed Miliband has been Secretary of State for Energy Security since July last year, and he has been behaving like a lunatic pushing an absurd green agenda. First, he said net zero - nut zero in his case - would lead (eventually) to lower energy bills. Now he has admitted it will lead to higher energy bills. Whatever the cost, can we in Britain really extract most of our energy from windmills and solar cells plastered all over the countryside?
Britain contributes perhaps 1% of global carbon emissions if that, so this is really a crackpot scheme that won’t save money much less the planet. There are though sensible things that our governments can do to reduce carbon emissions. One is to insulate houses and public buildings so they use less energy. There is in fact a pressure group dedicated to this goal; unfortunately, Insulate Britain spend most of their time carrying out stupid stunts that alienate the public instead of doing something effective.
In addition to providing grants to insulate houses, the Government could promote solar energy sensibly. There is no reason every public building could not be fitted with rooftop solar cells. Cheap and efficient public transport is something else that all governments should promote, rather than tax the motorist to death.
It remains to be seen if the British Government or any government is really interested in doing anything practical even on a micro scale, but what does not remain to be seen is that a lot of the wrong kinds of people are making a lot of money and garnering a lot of influence by promoting the wrong kinds of policies.