by Michael Curzon
The European Conservative
It’s impossible to predict UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s next move on the environment, so often does he seemingly flip his position on decarbonisation. But the latest turn, which will see Britain build new gas power stations, is more important than most in that it serves as a tacit admission of the fact that the net zero agenda is not sustainable.
Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho could not have put this more clearly:
There are no two ways about it. Without gas backing up renewables, we face the genuine prospect of blackouts.
Sunak himself added that “when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing, this is how we will keep your lights on and your bills down.” He and his top team are clearly uncomfortable with revealing that renewables are not reliable enough to be the UK’s main source of energy, so instead simply said that gas will be the “insurance policy Britain needs … while we deliver our net zero transition.”
Author Steve Milloy joked that “no one has ever announced new wind and solar farms to ease the risk of blackouts.”
