Bishop Hill More bad news for greens
Sep 4, 2012 Climate: Parliament Energy: other The latest from the government reshuffle brings another piece of bad news for those who would sacrifice everything to Gaia.
In a surprise move, Energy Minister Charles Hendry has been axed in the government's reshuffle to be replaced by Tory MP John Hayes.
Writing on Twitter, Labour Peer Lady Bryony Worthington revealed earlier this afternoon that she had "just bumped in to Charles Hendry who is back to being a back bencher", adding that the demotion was "a real shame."
Number 10 later confirmed Hendry had been replaced by MP for South Holland and the Deepings, John Hayes, who has moved from his role as Minister for Skills at the Department for Business.
Hayes appointment will cause concern amongst renewable energy firms given his opposition to wind farms in his constituency, having previously describing wind turbines as a "terrible intrusion on our flat fenland landscape".
Hendry was not one of the MPs who called on David Cameron to reverse policy on wind farms, although as a minister this is perhaps not surprising.
Reader Comments (32)
There's something about that sentence that causes a whoop of joy. Worked over more like. Unlike those Siberian larches the signal from the reshuffle is now surely unmistakable. Someone's been doing their sums and genuinely been listening.
The green reaction to this has been somewhat predictable. But rather than signalling the U-turn on climate policy that they are whingeing about, the replacement of two ministers looks at best more like an attempt to put some balance into a policy area that has since Ed Miliband (and possibly before) been dominated by politically-ambitious zealots. The fact that climate policy-making has largely gone unchallenged has been reflected in the intransigence of Miliband, Huhne, and to a slightly less extent, Barker -- but only because he's a cipher. If there were a real U-turn, you could expect a more comprehensive clear-out. But debate is anathema to environmentalists.
Agreed that there's a rump of zealots and rent-seekers. But if as we hope the promotion of Paterson to DEFRA is to fast-track shale gas then I think a major shift in the balance of power will ensue - simply because of the economics. Even James Delingpole was moved to say Sounds very much to me like there IS a God when he considered the advent of shale and methane hydrates last year. This is the game-changer that's needed and I think the coalition has realised it.
There's something about that sentence that causes a whoop of joy.
Interesting to see such worry for 'stakeholders'. Never mind the consumers and voters; it's the self-appointed 'stakeholders' we're supposed to be concerned about.
Yeah, Business Green, the future of a oxymoron. The snakeholders have had their day.
Let's hope the penny is beginning to drop with Cameron & co.
When the government realises it's been fed a load of pseudoscientific balderdash, and that the much of the electorate is already aware of this, they will have no option but to initiate a face-saving U-turn.
You can imagine the government spin doctors at work..."acted on best scientific advice"..."acted in good faith"..."new evidence suggests"..."results may have been misinterpreted"..."the problem may have been overestimated"...blah...blah...blah.
One thing's for sure – when the poo hits the air conditioner, it won't be the politicians who carry the can. I certainly wouldn't like to be a climate scientist.
Now, going forward, I'm off round the pub to engage with a wide cross section of stakeholders.
So Hendry was pals with the Bryony Worthington (civil servant and FOTE mole) architect of the 2008 Climate Change Act?
How the parasite class stick together.
Now, going forward, I'm off round the pub to engage with a wide cross section of stakeholders.
I really wish I'd said that.
has anyone else noticed how Lean looks like Uncle Fester from the Addams Family?
Altogether quite a satisfactory day. Two sound anti-wind anti-EU realists appointed in DEFRA and DECC, and the CC committees lumbered with compromised chairmen surrounded by circling journo-sharks.
......"given his opposition to wind farms in his constituency".............
Sorry to disappoint but they all do that. They all campaign for no wind farms in their area but are quite happy to see them planted elsewhere in the country.
Sorry but this bloke is just another useful idiot of the Cameron persuasion.
While it is beginning to look like you guys over there are starting to get your house in order, would you like Lisa Jackson or Steven Chu. May become available mid January. Both are qualified to be janitors and probably have security clearance. Could send Janet Napolitano for security of janitors closet if desired. Even offer Eric Holder for legal representation of toilet facilities if you like. Other high level custodians best suited for lavatory greeters may be available. Make it a clean sweep. We can not be responsible if they steal the toilet tissue. Maybe even have a Mann to scrub Jones' mess.
Well done Peter Lilley !!!
It was obviously when Cameron, Osbourne & Co. read this document, which was released publically hours before the sackings, of Ministers who had demostrated themselves to be unreliable, and overenamoured of the so called "green agenda", and whose departments Lilley Heavily Publically criticised. The document was made available to insiders (including Cameron et al ? ), some few days ago.
Read the damining enditement which precipitated these moves, and more to come I predict. What's the odds on Greg Barker retaining his position, after having been on the "Green Fiscal Commission" ?
http://www.thegwpf.org/peter-lilley-costly-decarbonisation-of-the-economy-is-based-on-flawed-stern-review/
great news in australia too, bish, but look at the feeble response by the leader of the Opposition - the man the CAGW zealots constantly remind us once said CAGW is crap!
5 Sept: ABC: Simon Cullen: Govt scraps plans to shut down dirty power stations
Resources Minister Martin Ferguson: “I’ve said all along that there was no bottomless pit in terms of the amount of money available from the Government’s perspective to actually buy out electricity generation.
“On the basis of the outcome of discussions to date, I simply say there’s no value for money for the Government in continuing this process.”
And he said it was now up to the power stations’ operators to decide their future.
“In terms of the Latrobe Valley [in Victoria], there’s a large degree of certainty as to the future. Those coal-fired power operations will continue to operate on a commercial basis, and the companies themselves will make their own commercial decisions as to their future over time” he said.
The operator of the Hazelwood power station in Victoria, which participated in the negotiations, has released a statement saying: “We will continue to focus on providing competitive and reliable base load power to the National Electricity Market.”…
Mr Ferguson says recent forecasts showing declining energy demand in Australia raised questions about the value for money attached to closing down the coal-fired power stations…
But the Greens have slammed the decision to abandon talks as a “serious breach of faith” on behalf of the Government, accusing Mr Ferguson of only making a half-hearted attempt at getting a deal.
“This is a breach of faith with the Australian community, a breach of faith with the multi-party climate committee, and it really goes against the spirit of everything we’ve been trying to do and that is close down the dirtiest power stations in Australia – particularly Hazelwood in Victoria,” Greens leader Christine Milne told reporters in Hobart.
“You’ve got a minister who will be smiling all the way to the next coal pit… and really thumbing his nose at global warming and at the efforts that have gone in around the country to the transition out of fossil fuels.
“Keeping the dirtiest coal-fired power stations in Australia operating longer is going to make it harder to meet our greenhouse gas emission targets.
“It also means that it will be an excuse that the Government uses for why they can’t lift the [emissions reduction] targets.”…
***The Opposition says the latest development shows the carbon tax was poorly designed, and believes the decision to abandon negotiations is more about trying to deliver a budget surplus.
“I think what we have seen today from the government is a desperate attempt to patch up the budget,” Opposition Leader Tony Abbott told reporters in the regional Victorian city of Bendigo.
“It’s a desperate attempt to preserve the microscopic budget surplus by failing to spend the money that it had previously promised on carbon tax closures.”…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/04/australia-carbon-idUSL4E8K48AK20120904
apology, the ABC link to the coal power plant story is:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-05/government-scraps-plans-to-shut-down-dirty-power-stations/4243888
geoffrey lean link on Telegraph homepage has his latest as:
"Reshuffle ends 'greenest government ever'"
for some reason i kept getting a different blog when i clicked on it, but this is Lean's Latest Lament:
4 Sept: Telegraph: Geoffrey Lean: Reshuffle: environment – from the nurse to the lion?
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/geoffreylean/100179301/reshuffle-environment-from-the-nurse-to-the-lion/
need i add, he's not happy.
Even over here one can recognize that if Briony is unhappy it's probably a good thing.
John Hayes has publicly stated that:
1 Wind turbines are extremely inefficient and costly.
2 Wind turbines always have to be backed-up by conventional power stations because of their unreliability.
3 The unsustainable dash for wind energy will push another 3.5 million vulnerable people into fuel poverty.
and much more.
He sounds like the man for the job.
At last, the Tories are beginning to wake up and smell the coffee. Better late than never!
Don't get too excited. This is about public perception, and a response to increasing wind farm opposition. Good to see Hendry gone, but Cameron is still advised by Letwin and is still following EU policies. Defra and Decc are still full of NGO advisors and deeply wedded to the IPCC process.
The Green Investment Bank is due to open in October with an emphasis on off-shore wind, Chairman Lord Smith of Kelvin is chairman of SSE energy which is part of Deben's Forewind consortium. Vice Chairman is Sir Adrian Montague, who is chairman of Anglian Water Group, a subsidiary of Deben's Veolia UK.
Tory members of Globe International UK "chapter" of which Deben is current President, were and probably still are, (can't find current data). (Oxburgh is also a Globe member).
Gregory Barker
Kenneth Clarke
Lord Fowler
Charles Hendry
Nick Hurd
Graham Stuart
Tim Yeo
Lib Dems:
Malcolm Bruce
Chris Huhne
Simon Hughes
http://web.archive.org/web/20100401062517/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmallparty/register/memi328.htm
"The group is the UK chapter of the Global Legislators Organisation (GLOBE International) whose aim is to provide legislators with informal and formal policy processes to support ambitious political leadership on environment and sustainable development issues.
GLOBE International provides legislators with international, regional and national platforms to work together across national and political divides in a non-partisan manner and without the burden of formal governmental negotiating positions, to advance policy outcomes with the heads of government, particularly G20 leaders, the United Nations and relevant international financial institutions."
The CCC is still controlled by the Grantham Institutes at LSE (Stern) and Imperial, (Hoskins), CCC member and mitigation committee member Dr Fankhauser is chief accountant for Globe International.
Behind the scenes, the agenda is alive and well. Unless and until the CC Act is repealed we won't see much return to common sense.
Re GLOBE, note that Deben is president of the whole shebang, not the UK chapter. US Democrats are also party to it, some Republicans, such as McCain, have dabbled with it. GLOBE has close links with the Club of Rome.
Lord Oxburgh is the Vice-President Globe UK Group
http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/ernest-oxburgh/27143
Global Legislators Organisation (GLOBE) UK
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmallparty/register/memi328.htm
Composition of GLOBE International Board
http://www.globeinternational.org/content.php?id=7:48:0:0:0
The UK All-Party Parliamentary Group, of which Lord Oxburgh is claiming to be President,
now appears to have spawned a kind of brainwashing organisation, which targets
primary schoolchildren, and has a not so hidden agenda of greenwashing.
"A practical environmental education project linking students,
teachers and scientists in 111 countries Over 600 schools in the UK"
Of course this is a "different" "Globe", claims Oxburgh, but the agenda
looks awfully familiar deosn't it, and I am not convinced that these two
"Globe" organisations are entirely seperate entities at all.
"Connecting the next generation of scientists"
http://www.globe.gov/
Seemingly the organisation that brainwashes our schoolchildren is ...
GLOBE an acronym derived from the following phrase :
Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment
Whereas the organisation of Lord Oxburgh is ...
GLOBE an acronym derived from the following phrase :
Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment
There are many "GLOBE"s and this confusion is most likely deliberate
and obviously helpful when planning subversion and subterfuge.
Lobbyists who cleared 'Climategate' academics funded by taxpayers and the BBC
The little-known not-for-profit company (GLOBE) works behind
the scenes at international conferences to further its aims.
One of its key supporters headed the official investigation into the so-called
"Climategate emails", producing a report which cleared experts of deliberately
attempting to skew scientific results to confirm that global warming was a real threat.
Another so called scientific expert linked to the group came forward to praise a second
independent investigation into the Climategate affair which also exonerated researchers.
Set up with the backing of Tony Blair, then the Prime Minister, and run by
a group of British MPs and peers the organisation, Globe International,
started life as an All Party Group based in the House of Commons.
It is now run as an international climate change lobbying group flying
its supporters and experts club class to international summits to push its agenda.
Last year, it said, it spent around £500,000 flying its supporters to these meetings.
More on this story from The Telegraph Newspaper
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/8469883/Lobbyists-who-cleared-Climategate-academics-funded-by-taxpayers-and-the-BBC.html
ooooeeerrrr
Just found some more current info on Globe UK: http://www.globeinternational.org/index.php/countries/emea/united-kingdom
"Under the UK Presidency and with the support of the President of Mexico, the President of Brazil, the Chancellor of Germany, the Japanese Prime Minister and UK Prime Ministers, GLOBE has sought to place legislators at the forefront of addressing key global challenges including climate change, tropical deforestation, biodiversity loss, and degradation of the marine environment."
"In the House Commons, Graham Stuart MP, the Chairman of the House of Commons Select Committee on Education chairs the GLOBE Group. Their work in the Parliament is supported by Barry Gardiner MP, the Leader of the Opposition’s Envoy on Climate and Energy, and Zac Goldsmith MP, Member of the Environment Audit Committee and Vice President of GLOBE.
Tim Yeo MP, the Chairman of the House of Commons Select Committee on Climate and Energy, Rt Hon. Malcolm Bruce MP, the Chairman of the House of Commons Select Committee on International Development, Joan Walley MP, the Chair of the House of Commons Environment Audit Select Committee, Laura Sandys MP and Dr Alan Whitehead MP have all kindly supported GLOBE’s work in the House of Commons. Lord Hunt of Chesterton, the former head of the UK MET Office, Lord Oxburgh of Liverpool, Lord Prescott of Kingston upon Hull, the former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Lord Jay of Ewelme, former head of the UK Diplomatic Service and Baroness Worthington, the Opposition Front Bench Member and carbon markets expert have kindly supported GLOBE’s work both in the UK and internationally throughout GLOBE UK’s Presidency of the Organisation."
Note that Zac Goldsmith, who also advises Cameron, is Vice President of Globe and was in Rio with Deben and Labour's Barry Gardner, http://www.terrafiniti.com/blog/world-summit-of-legislators-bringing-natural-capital-accounting-to-rio/
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/environmental-audit-committee/membership/
These people are in prime positions to keep pushing for more legislation and to maintain that which is already there. They won't give up easily
So it gets worse though
"There is now general agreement among policy analysts that a significant
programme of green fiscal reform, in which environmental taxes are increased,
could play a considerable role in contributing to the cost-effective solution
of environmental problems, and in particular climate change." and so on ...
The Green Fiscal Commission was launched on the 14th November 2007 and has
looked in detail at the whole range of issues surrounding green taxes and environmental
tax reform (ETR). Greg Barker, Chris Huhne, and Lord Oxburgh are involved, among others.
http://www.greenfiscalcommission.org.uk/index.php/site/about/commissioners
Minister of State, Department for Energy and Climate Change
http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/gregory-barker/25710
Greg is a GLOBE International Commissioner on Climate and Energy Security,
Vice Chair of APPG Environment Group and member of the Green Fiscal Commission.
http://www.gregorybarker.com/biography/
-----
These UK Government Ministers are now seen to collude with foreign interest
Groups, against the financial and other interests of United Kingdom Plc.
Mr Anders Wijkman (former MEP) is the President of GLOBE EU and he is Involved with the
"World Future Council", "ZERI Foundation" and numerous other "Global Governance" and
"Green" organisations. He is Vice President of the Club of Rome.
The World Future Council strongly advocated an International Agency for Renewable Energies.
http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/anders_wijkman.html
Dr. Anders Wijkman, Sweden, Former Member of the European Parliament
and The Vice-President of the Club of Rome.
http://www.clubofrome.org/eng/people/executive_committee.asp
"Tinkering at the margins of the existing industrial, fossil-fuel based economic system,
with its 50-year old global governance system and nation-state political system just will
not do. The world needs new, creative solutions rooted on our interconnectedness, systemic
interdependence and a leadership of courage and integrity." - says Wijkman
See this page - TÄLLBERGFOUNDATION - TheBoard - AndersWijkman
http://www.tallbergforum.org/T%C4LLBERGFOUNDATION/TheBoard/AndersWijkman/tabid/253/Default.aspx
The Fish Rots From The Head Down !
Who will be next for shaving ?
Faint praise from Bryony Worthington,
is like a damning indictment, is it not ?
Worthington is the founder of, "Sandbag", a Community Interest Company, campaigning to increase public awareness of emissions trading. The organisation was announced in 2008 by Bryony Worthington and was the first (and founding) member of The Guardian's Environment Network.
The Sandbag website centres on the European Union's Emission Trading Scheme and allows its members to campaign to reduce the number of permits in circulation and to purchase permits and cancel them. Large corporations (such as vehicle manufacturers) must obtain these permits from the EU if they need to emit greenhouse gases during production. The purchase of these permits by the public prevents their use by corporations. Worthington described her organisation as "a bit like burning money in front of someone so they can't spend it on something bad."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryony_Worthington
The above clipping about "Lady" Worthington was found on Roger Helmer's website
The British Euro MEP for the UKIP Party is critical in a couple of videos at his site
where he lambasts other Euro MEPs about the costs of Electricity, and other
energy prices in Europe, and he blames the so called "Greens" for the demise
of industrial production (and employment) in the whole of Europe.
See Roger Helmer MEP Website. If I was a Brit, then I'd donate to UKIP !!!!
http://rogerhelmermep.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/european-energy-prices-are-hopelessly-uncompetitive/
Not much of an audience for Roger Helmer. Where are they all- claimed their allowance and flown home...?
The pie-eyed, magical-thinking "world savers" in Europe have a date with reality sometime in the not-too-distant future. With Germany proposing to shut down its entire nuclear generating fleet and the innumerates in England and Scotland planning to power a modern economy using pinwheels and sunshine, two lines are going to intersect and the result ain't gonna be pretty or popular.
Dennis A:
You conclude your informative post saying;
“These people are in prime positions to keep pushing for more legislation and to maintain that which is already there. They won't give up easily.”
Indeed so. And that is the important point. I explain its importance as follows.
The AGW-scare was killed at the failed 2009 IPCC Conference in Copenhagen. I said then that the scare would continue to move as though alive in similar manner to a beheaded chicken running around a farmyard. It continues to provide the movements of life but it is already dead. And its deathly movements provide an especial problem.
Nobody will declare the AGW-scare dead: it will slowly fade away. This is similar to the ‘acid rain’ scare of the 1980s. Few remember that scare unless reminded of it but its effects still have effects; e.g. the Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD) exists. Importantly, the bureaucracy which the EU established to operate the LCPD still exists. And those bureaucrats justify their jobs by imposing ever more stringent, always more pointless, and extremely expensive emission limits which are causing enforced closure of UK power stations.
Bureaucracies are difficult to eradicate and impossible to nullify.
As the AGW-scare fades away those in “prime positions” will attempt to establish rules and bureaucracies to impose those rules which provide immortality to their objectives. Guarding against those attempts now needs to be a serious activity.
Yes indeed, the zombie bureaucracies require trimming, by some wholesale issue of redundancy notices, because if a job is meaningless, and nothing worthwhile is produced, then why should a taxpayer be expected to fund such nonsensical dissipations. Or in other words, sack the bloodsucking leeches.
John Hayes is strongly opposed to onshore wind arrays.
Redund and See:
Yes, I agree. Now, please tell, how?
My point was that we need to guard against more of them because once established a stake through the heart doesn't kill a bureaucracy.