Thursday
Oct082015
by 
Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill Deccline and fall
Oct 8, 2015 Climate: Parliament Energy: grid ;)
The man running UK energy policy?According to an article in the Ecologist, DECC is now no longer much more than a shell. It seems that the Treasury and the new Infrastructure commission headed by Lord Adonis are taking all the decisions related to energy projects, leaving Amber Rudd with little to do beyond talking about the weather (or at least the climate) with colleagues from around the world.
Unfortunately Lord Adonis seems to be enthusiastic about wind energy, so the insanity may continue for a while yet. But at least energy policy seems to have been removed from the hands of the deep greens.
Reader Comments (22)
I suppose this means that once Amber is gone, DECC will be totally Rudderless...
It wouldn't have been the done thing to do away with DECC altogether before the Paris conference, but hopefully once that shindig is over we can say goodbye to it forever.
Don't forget that the author of the article is Oliver Tickell, son of Crispin Tickell.
"And let's not delude ourselves. Lord Adonis is no greenie. He supports high speed rail, airport expansion, fracking and new Thames river crossings in East London. He has nothing to say about climate change at all - he's far more worried about the fiscal climate or the economic climate than climate itself."
Oliver Tickell, The Ecologist magazine
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2985705/uks_energy_revolution_deccs_role_usurped_by_new_infrastructure_commission.html
Tickell's claim that Adonis supports off-shore wind was based on a 2012 comment. Which was about uncertainty in the energy market.
Mrs. Stonyground and I did the Drax Triathlon last Sunday. Beautiful day, very still, stationary windmills could be seen in every direction. The ones in our area have been still an awful lot lately, surely the implications can't be lost on the people who see them.
Solar energy firm goes bust:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-34472419
Despite ridiculous levels of subsidy for the use of their product, the business model still can't be made to work; I wonder why? Of course it is the fault of those nasty Tories cutting the subsidies.
I feel genuinely sorry for those that have lost their jobs. Hopefully, they will all find gainful employment in a field that is a net contributor to the economy.
Given that the wind is unable to move (or sustain the motion) of a car in neutral (engine off), and the area of a car is comparable to that of wind turbine blades, it must be obvious to anyone who drives past a wind turbine that the thing is incapable even of powering a single one of the thousands of cars that drive past the thing every day.
The BBC is still pushing wind power, no dissent allowed, except to give an opportunity to the truly scary Tom Heap to accuse objectors of being NIMBYS.
A question; if the government suddenly announce that 'man made climate change was really one big con after all' (like so many of those nice people at Bishop Hill have been saying for years) then what legal action does HMG open itself up to?
On the other hand if HMG slowly but surely unwind their position at a snails pace so as to not arise suspicion of outright wrongdoing, instead implying that 'the threat has passed' and 'our previous position was always an insurance-policy application of the precautionary principle, then there's almost zero chance of any class actions. Right, wrong or whatever?
I ask as it has seems clear to me that Osborne is doing exactly the latter; slowly but surely he's unwinding the extremes of green climate policy, but without actually admitting as much.
DECC is not being axed in a dramatic move. It is now relying on wind power to charge its batteries, and so will just go flat and useless, before being binned.
Yes, stonyground, people do notice, though often subconsciously, that the wind farms spend a lot of time doing nothing. On a car journey with the parents last year, at one point on the M1 my mother suddenly exclaimed "Oh, look at those windmills. They're turning!"
The Labour Government always had Labour placemen to put at the top of QANGOs. The Conservative Government seems keen to find Labour placemen to put at the top of QANGOs. Thus either the Conservatives are really socialists in disguise or they are preparing for when the lights go out by being able to blame Blair/Brown/Milliband''s Labour lot, the LibDems (Huhne, Davey) and the Labour man in charge of the Infrastructure Commission. Take your pick.
Red, Amber, Green.........:o)
Maybe Osborne listens to Nigel Lawson after all.
http://blogs.new.spectator.co.uk/2012/02/lawson-abolish-decc/
Interesting situation we have now:
The new Labour leader is intent on turning his party into the Socialist worker's Party or perhaps the Trotskyites.
The Tory Leader is dragging his party into Labour territory.
Anyone know of a good Conservative leader?
I do not believe for one minute that Cameron has moved an inch from his green position. Cameron is right at the centre of UN moves on climate change, sustainability and diversity.
Amber Rudd, DECC's secretary in a state.
...Unfortunately Lord Adonis seems to be enthusiastic about wind energy...
I suspect that 'Lord' Adonis will remain committed to wind energy right up to the point at which Cameron's father-in-law moves out of the industry. That is, if he wants to keep a Cabinet post....
Dung,
So much political capital has been invested in this and so much money misspent, that it's impossible to imagine a Labour or Conservative leader saying that it's all been a big mistake and it's going to stop. Politicians are not known for fessing up anyway. Think of all the non-jobs for hangers on and the revenue streams for shysters it's created. Then there's the legislation which has been put in place, and governments are usually keen to create legislation but not great at removing it. There's also the EU aspect.
It was the hot topic ten years ago and politicians jumped on the bandwagon without understanding much about it or what the consequences would be, which anyway would probably be realised on someone else's watch.
I think it's dawning on Cameron that it was a serious mistake to commit so heavily to this, and we're seeing an edging away, which is about all which can be expected without a crisis to motivate action. There's also the fact that energy policy is necessarily long term and we've had ten years of going up a blind alley, wind energy, power stations converted to use wood pellets, STOR and other nonsense, which isn't so easy to reverse.
As for Cameron himself, I find it hard to believe he has any thought through convictions.
Oct 8, 2015 at 1:22 PM | Unregistered Commentercosmic
Your last line says it all mate:
As for Cameron himself, I find it hard to believe he has any thought through convictions.
Subsidy fiddling will continue despite the DECCline and Fail of the Miliband Empire, that never was.
Isn't the energy job for Adonis to ensure that the Chinese can get to build nuclear power plants?
They need something to keep his other pet project going - HS2.