This morning the green movement is making an enormous and apparently coordinated attempt to force the government to switch the lights out.
First up, Lord Deben et al have published a report saying that we must stick to the path of insanity, regardless of the consequences:
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) says in a report that the country must stick to a plan that will add £120 to household energy bills by 2030, insisting the impact is “small and manageable”.
Interestingly, there seems a clear admission from the committee that their plans are only sensible if:
- everyone does the same thing
- gas prices rise sharply
Ridiculously, Lord Deben suggests that it is “almost impossible to imagine” falling gas prices. Given that the world has suddenly founds that it has unimaginably vast shale gas resources, this could be construed as a case of Lord Deben being in, ahem, denial. Or perhaps something worse. What is almost impossible to imagine is that developing countries will agree to wildly increase their energy prices.
The commitee's report coincides with a full on newspaper campaign from renewables businesses and various charities. Groups like Oxfam and Christian Aid are spending money that was presumably given to relieve hunger in the Third World on attempts to put people out of work. Just remember that when you see the tin rattling in the high street this weekend.