Month: February 2020

Daily News

Two impossible things before breakfast

The news this morning from “Climate Action in Wonderland” is as follows.

Firstly, inspired by the need to be appearing to do something in relation to the COP26 climate meeting, the ban on petrol and diesel cars is supposedly going to happen by 2035:

Demonstrating the UK’s urgent action to reduce emissions, the Government plans to bring forward an end to the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans to 2035, or earlier if a faster transition is feasible, subject to consultation, as well as including hybrids for the first time.

How is this going to be achieved? Well, David Attenborough has been drafted in to sort it out. So that’s all good, as Ian Fletcher would say. Apparently the AA have described this as “incredibly challenging”.

Here’s a video of Julia Hartley-Brewer asking Michael Gove about how much it’s going to cost. He hasn’t a clue, and makes the absurd claim that all the new electric cars, new infrastructure and extra electricity needed are going to be a net saving.

Quite apart from the cost, I don’t believe it’s even feasible. It’s not going to be possible to produce that number of electric vehicles, set up the infrastructure to provide the charging points, and generate the additional electricity that would be needed. Needless to say, none of these issues have been addressed in the Government announcement.

The second fairytale is that the UK aviation industry is going to achieve “net zero” by 2050 (Guardian, Sky News), despite increasing passenger numbers by 70%! How are they going to do this? Invent an antigravity device? Have planes towed by invisible pink unicorns? Well, maybe – the Guardian article does say that some of the technology is “yet to be invented”.

Again, this is not going to happen. The airline industry is notoriously slow to change – the planes we fly in today look and work much the same as they did 30 years ago. It seems that they are going to use two common greenwash lies: firstly, the biofuels lie, that burning stuff from plants or from waste somehow doesn’t produce carbon dioxode, and secondly the offsetting lie, that planting some trees will absorb all the CO2 that the planes emit.

 

via Climate Scepticism

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February 4, 2020 at 03:41AM

Daily News

UK Government Has No Idea What Ban On Petrol Cars Will Cost Taxpayers

Despite being asked eight times by Julia Hartley-Brewer this morning on TalkRADIO, Michael Gove failed to answer how much the Government’s proposed ban on diesel and petrol cars will cost taxpayers.

The radical policy has been brought forward from 2040 to 2035 “at the latest” this morning, yet the Government has not offered any indication of how the new infrastructure required will be funded. If we use Tesla charging stations as a guide they cost some £200,000 each. The nation will need millions of charging stations, to cover the country from Lands End to John o’Groats will make HS2 costs seem like pocket change in comparison.

Full post

The post UK Government Has No Idea What Ban On Petrol Cars Will Cost Taxpayers appeared first on The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF).

via The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF)

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February 4, 2020 at 03:08AM

Daily News

GRADUALLY WE BEGIN TO FIND OUT WHAT NET ZERO CARBON ACTUALLY MEANS
Most people in the UK have little or no idea what net zero CO2 emissions will actually mean for them. When I have tried to explain the true cost they simply cannot comprehend it. They seem to think we simply plant a few million trees and build a few more wind farms. This article in Monday’s Daily Mail should make people sit up and realise. Even now the government won’t dare to reveal the true cost, let alone how it is going to be paid.

Certainly no one in government is going to mention that all this will make no discernible difference to CO2 levels without a world-wide agreement, let alone make any difference whatsoever to the climate.  


   

via climate science

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February 4, 2020 at 01:30AM

Daily News

Boris goes full speed ahead for Britain’s economic suicide
Apologies to Josh

Today, the UK government will commit to destroying the nation’s economy. It published this suicide note on its website.

The Prime Minister will today, Tuesday 4 February, launch the next UN climate conference COP26, joined by Sir David Attenborough and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at an event in central London.

At the event, he will set out the UK’s position as a world leader in the response to climate change, having made a legal commitment to achieve net zero emissions, and call all nations to strive towards this goal.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

Hosting COP26 is an important opportunity for the UK and nations across the globe to step up in the fight against climate change. As we set out our plans to hit our ambitious 2050 net zero target across this year, so we shall urge others to join us in pledging net zero emissions.

There can be no greater responsibility than protecting our planet, and no mission that a Global Britain is prouder to serve. 2020 must be the year we turn the tide on global warming– it will be the year when we choose a cleaner, greener future for all.

The Prime Minister will use the speech to call for international efforts to reach net zero as early as possible through investment in cleaner, greener technology, preservation of our natural habitat and measures to improve resilience to climate change impact.

At the event, which will also be attended by Sir David Attenborough, the Prime Minister will reinforce his commitment to tackling climate change and biodiversity loss simultaneously, recognising the important role of the restoration of nature in his vision.

Demonstrating the UK’s urgent action to reduce emissions, the Government plans to bring forward an end to the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans to 2035, or earlier if a faster transition is feasible, subject to consultation, as well as including hybrids for the first time.

The Government will continue to work with all sectors of industry to accelerate the rollout of zero emission vehicles – helping to deliver new green jobs in the UK.

Business and Energy Secretary Andrea Leadsom said:

The UK has a proud record in tackling climate change and making the most of the enormous economic potential of clean technologies.

This is my number one priority, and we will raise our ambition in this year of climate action, including with new plans to decarbonise every sector, enabling a greener future for all our children.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

This government’s £1.5bn strategy to make owning an electric vehicle as easy as possible is working – last year alone, a fully electric car was sold every 15 minutes.

We want to go further than ever before. That’s why we are bringing forward our already ambitious target to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars to tackle climate change and reduce emissions.

The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Conte will lead the discussion on the fight against climate change as part of the larger global alliance which makes up COP26.

Later this month, Italy will host the meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Rome ahead of this year’s critical biodiversity summit, COP15, when countries from around the world are due to agree on a new global framework to protect plants and wildlife.

Today’s launch will also kick off a Year of Climate Action, with events to take place in all four nations of the UK, and businesses and charities encouraged to participate in the run-up to the summit in Glasgow in November.

via Tallbloke’s Talkshop

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February 4, 2020 at 01:24AM