By Paul Homewood
h/t Dave Ward
A grant addicted climate scientist from the UEA has added his two’pennorth to the CCC’s criticism of govt climate policy. Since when was it the role of “scientists” to set public policy?
Fracking, a third runway at Heathrow and road building programme contradict emissions-cutting pledge, say climate scientist and environmentalist from the region
The Government needs to show a more "joined up" approach if it is to enable the country to reduce carbon emissions and limit the impact of the climate crisis, a leading climate expert from the region has said.
Dr Phil Williamson, a climate scientist at the University of East Anglia in Norwich points to the decision to allow fracking in parts of England and the current consultation on plans to build a controversial third runway at Heathrow as factors that contradict the Government’s pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
"Allowing fracking and a new runway at Heathrow isn’t joined-up Government on the climate front," he said.
"From now on any government department should be looking at the environmental impact of any policy and whether it is sustainable or not."
Dr Williamson said the Government had become "complacent" because the roll-out of renewable energy had "gone well" but said there were a number of things it could be doing to cut emissions further. These include ensuring overseas aid money for energy development goes only to projects involving renewable energy and encouraging more onshore wind projects and tree planting.
He also criticised decisions to relax building standards.
"All new buildings have to be super-efficient with good insulation and solar panels – I don’t think that would cost any more," added Dr Williamson, who also called for road taxes to subsidise the cost of electric cars, and for incentives for home-owners to buy solar panels to be reinstated.
Frustrated
Down in Suffolk, Green Party county councillor Robert Lindsay, said there is also a lack of join-up thinking on a local level.
He said he was "frustrated" by recent decisions to axe subsidies for bus services in the county and to launch a consultation into a multi-million pound northern bypass road scheme around Ipswich, which he said would increase traffic and therefore emissions.
Both decisions have come after county councillors voted overwhelming to declare a climate emergency earlier this year.
Mr Lindsay said: "Having declared a climate emergency, the ground breaker criteria on any project sponsored by Suffolk County Council should be ‘will it add to or reduce greenhouse gases’. If the project adds to climate emissions then it should not be promoted."
https://www.edp24.co.uk/business/government-behind-on-climate-crisis-1-6158388
He objects to fracking (don’t they all!). But he obviously has not got round to reading the CCC’s Net Zero Plan, which maintains that we will still be burning huge amounts of natural gas, both for power generation and heating (via conversion to hydrogen), all with the help of carbon storage, even after 2050. Would he rather we imported this gas from Russia?
And if Heathrow expansion does not go ahead, passengers will simply fly via other airports, such as Schiphol or Frankfurt.
He also wants to increase taxes on motorists, in order to chuck even greater subsidies at electric vehicles that nobody wants to buy. Given that motorists already pay £35bn every year in taxation, via fuel duties and vehicle excise tax, I suspect most drivers would be only too happy to tell Mr Williamson where to get off.
He claims his proposals will limit the impact of the climate crisis. But surely, as a scientist, he knows full well that UK emissions are far to small to make the slightest difference to the world’s climate.
Meanwhile Williamson’s buddies have been branded as hypocrites for jetting around the world:
The Committee on Climate Change has been accused of ‘rank hypocrisy’ after sending staff on taxpayer-funded international flights that pump out greenhouse gases.
The quango’s personnel have flown to destinations such as Edinburgh, Turin and Bonn rather than opting for greener alternatives.
The revelations come just days after committee chairman Lord Deben – formerly Tory Environment Secretary John Gummer — made a call for urgent action to stop global warming.
The flights costing a total of almost £10,000 are revealed in documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday using a Freedom of Information request.
One first-class return trip to Beijing on British Airways cost £5,081 and would have produced an estimated carbon footprint of 9.2 tons of CO2 – some 6.1 tons more than the equivalent journey in economy.
Passengers on board were able to enjoy unlimited glasses of the £125-a-bottle Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle champagne and a sumptuous array of dishes including Herefordshire beef, chocolate cherry cannelloni and Bleu d’Auvergne cheese.
In other cases the committee has chosen to fly rather than take the train, which would have had a far smaller carbon footprint.
This week the quango published a 90-page report urging the Government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the UK effectively to zero by 2050.
Calling for aviation emissions to be limited to 2005 levels, Lord Deben attacked the Government’s environmental strategy, saying: ‘The whole thing is really run by the Government like a Dad’s Army. ‘We can’t go on with this ramshackle system.’
Duncan Simpson, research director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘These mandarins have got their heads in the clouds. It is rank hypocrisy for climate change quangocrats to be calling for zero-carbon targets while jetting across the world on the taxpayers’ dime.
‘Climate change bosses need to practise what they preach and these flights of fancy to Beijing and Paris must come to an end.’
Chris Stark, CEO of the CCC, pathetically attempts to defend their flights:
‘We consider our travel choices carefully. We use sustainable forms of transport wherever possible, and avoid air travel in all but exceptional circumstances.
‘The small number of flights taken by committee members and staff allowed the CCC to support international climate work, where our expertise has been requested by the UK Government or international governments.’
In fact, trains would have been a perfectly practical way of getting to places like Edinburgh, Bonn and Turin. As for Beijing, have not they heard of video conferencing?
Even if a flight was unavoidable, why the need to travel first class?
FOOTNOTE
It is interesting to note that Suffolk County Council have already fallen foul of the green witch hunt. They are already discovering that virtue signalling is one thing, but actually doing something is quite another!
via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
July 17, 2019 at 12:12PM
Iowa Climate Science Education 
Reblogged this on Climate- Science.
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