NET ZERO IS A WAR ON THE WORKING CLASS

  James Woudhuysen: Net Zero is a war on the working class

Spiked, 27 February 2024
 
We are sleepwalking towards a social and economic catastrophe.
 
It’s official. Net Zero will make us poorer. A new report finds that the British government’s climate-change policies are likely to ‘make the poor poorer, and push struggling communities further into deprivation and exclusion’.

 
Our Journey to Net Zero, by the Institute for Community Studies (ICS), shows that the transition to Net Zero will cause a rise in unemployment, as carbon-intensive industries are forcibly restructured. Food will become more expensive. And the eco-friendly changes we’ll all be forced to make, such as insulating our homes or switching to electric cars, will be extremely difficult ’for low-income households’. The ICS concludes that the poorest 40 per cent of households are at risk of falling into ‘transition poverty’.
 
As shocking as this statistic is, the report is no rant. A team of researchers from ICS, Trinity College Dublin, and the universities of Leeds and York have thoroughly reviewed the policy changes and instruments – subsidies, taxation and so on – most likely to prove effective in reducing emissions of CO2. And they have concluded that these Net Zero measures will push down living standards for a lot of people in the UK.
 
Essentially, the general effect of Net Zero is similar to that of regressive taxation. Just as a tax that is the same for everyone will most hurt those who earn the least, Net Zero policies mete out more pain to those who are least well-off. This won’t just affect the very poorest though. As the ICS warns, even ‘middle-income households that were not previously experiencing financial precarity’ might struggle.
 
The report also highlights the other depredations brought about by Net Zero. For instance, the added cost and difficulty of car travel will reduce people’s leisure opportunities.
 
The report certainly pulls no punches about the downsides of Net Zero. But it does not challenge the green transition itself. It instead calls for a ‘just’ transition to ease the socio-economic pain caused – a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down.
 
Full post

CHINA WAY OFF TRACK TO MEET EMISSION TARGETS

“Another year of rapidly rising emissions in 2023 leaves China way off track against its target of cutting carbon intensity by 18 per cent between 2021 and 2025,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). “As a result, carbon dioxide emissions would now need to fall by 4 to 6 per cent by 2025 to hit the goal.” 

So the rulers of the West buy their transformers, solar panels and wind turbines from The Coal Giant, while pretending they sincerely want to reduce coal use. And the populace buy their cheap t-shirts, lemon squeezers and avocado-slicers (and their fridges and freezers).  And no one in polite society suggests sanctions or boycotts. (No one suggests “checking the science” either). Everyone wants their cheap stuff. 

The whole thing seems to be a giant charade, except that we are facing a cut in living standards to attempt to reach net zero.

 China built 47GW of coal power last year and is “way off track” to meet emissions targets « JoNova (joannenova.com.au)

REGULATED TO DEATH IN THE CAUSE OF NET ZERO

 Small manufacturers forced to answer 300 questions on net zero | NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT (wordpress.com)

Net zero and all that goes with it is causing pain for thousands of small businesses as the article linked above testifies. These extra burdens are causing headaches and costs which must either be passed on in increased prices for consumers or reduce business profits, causing many to become uneconomic. Time for a re-think.

MET OFFICE REFUSE TO RETRACT FALSE CLAIM

 Met Office Still Refuse To Retract False Claim About Storms | NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT (wordpress.com)

They refuse to retract because it would be too damaging. It is not about the objective truth but about their image and the "cause".

EU THREAT TO SCRAP VEHICLES OVER 15 YEARS OLD

 Here's another example of how the slavish policy to reach net zero may lead to draconian new laws that will make us all poorer. 

Will a new EU directive stop us repairing old cars? (youtube.com)

THE TRUTH ABOUT ARCTIC ICE AND POLAR BEARS

One of the most prominent campaigning icons to attract attention to the "climate change" issue is the plight of polar bears, and yet on close examination all the stories of these bears being wiped out are completely wrong, as can be seen when the facts are shown. This is examined in detail in this excellent new video by Paul Burgess which can be viewed here:

A Serious Case of Polar Bear Denial (youtube.com)

TIME FOR A RE-THINK BEFORE WIPE-OUT

We could put restrictions and tariffs on Chinese solar panels, or electric vehicles, but how can we do that when we have legally mandated targets to increase the share of alternative energies and motor vehicles?

The price tag is already fearfully high, and we have miserably failed to build up the capacity to make our own equipment at competitive prices. If given a choice between net zero and economic success, our politicians are disturbingly clear which takes precedence.

It’s the same story throughout the economy. We have allowed energy prices to soar, planned to close down our own offshore oil fields, and held back the growth in fracking even as it has delivered economic booms in North America.

We have ignored the fact that these choices are putting companies out of business – and are allowing Chinese rivals with far lower power costs to trample all over European businesses.

The harsh truth is that China has weaponised net zero, and turned it into a way of seizing industrial leadership. America is responding, admittedly perhaps too late, and with too much state control. But Europe and the UK have been left floundering, and their industry is about to get wiped out. Read it all here:

 Europe faces industrial wipe-out | NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT (wordpress.com)

GOVERNMENT BEING SUED IN THE HIGH COURT BY CLIMATE ACTIVIST GROUPS

As 2050 draws nearer we are going to find that the green activist groups, supported by vast sums of money from wealthy backers will be trying to force the government to take more and more drastic measures to get to the mythical net zero. Having done the "easy" measures first which have not impinged directly on the bulk of people's lives, they are now facing the things which will cause real hardship and real resistance will develop. This ongoing court case is the most recent example:   

'A damning indictment': Lord Deben intervenes in High Court legal challenge against government climate plans | BusinessGreen News

It will be interesting (though painful) to see how this plays out. If the activists win their case, which is quite likely, how will the government respond. If they bring in more draconian laws curbing the freedom of the public, bringing forward large taxes on popular activities, they know they will become very unpopular. The only other way is for the government to amend or repeal the Climate Change Act. I think this latter course is, ultimately, the only way forward.

TWO WINDFARMS SHARE OVER £80 MILLION TO SWITCH OFF

These massive sums being paid to windfarms are rising year on year as the grid becomes more unstable. You might think this would set alarm bells ringing among government ministers, but apparently not. Short term thinking seems to over shadow common sense.

 Two windfarms share £80 million to switch off (netzerowatch.com)

MAKING MONEY FROM A SOLAR/BATTERY SYSTEM

The dependence on intermittent forms of electricity has opened up a new market for short term supplies to top up the shortfall. Diesel generators are one type, but they are obviously not the preferred choice so a new type is to use a system consisting of an array of solar panels which charge up a bank of batteries. They can command a high price for the electricity which makes it a good investment. This is another reason why renewables will inevitably lead to highly priced electricity.

 Battery Energy Storage Systems | NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT (wordpress.com)

CLIMATE MODEL FAILURES LEAD TO COMPLETE LOSS OF CONFIDENCE

Day after day we are being bombarded with claims that the climate is at a tipping point and that things are much worse than we thought etc. This is at complete odds with the reality as shown here: 

Scientists: Nearly 4 Decades Of Climate Model Failure Undermines Confidence In Future Predictions (notrickszone.com)

IS 1984 GETTING A STEP CLOSER?

 Germany Moving to Authoritarianism “Those Who Mock State, Must Have To Deal With Powerful State” (notrickszone.com)

This is rather vague, but once the principle has been established who knows how it will be expanded?

CLIMATE CONTROL ATTEMPTS BY BIG BANKS STARTS TO CRACK UP

Most people have no idea what is going on behind the scenes in terms of the pressure being applied to businesses by huge banking conglomerates acting together. Read the post below and see for yourself the extraordinary power of these enormous cabals. It is all to do with power and money, but, make no mistake, it is costing ordinary people a massive amount in reduced pensions and increase prices. Thank goodness there are political leaders in many USA states who are prepared to fight these undemocratic institutions

 ESG comes undone — BlackRock, JP Morgan abandon “Climate Action 100+” « JoNova (joannenova.com.au)

POLAR BEAR CLIMATE PROPAGANDA REBUTTED

Here is a good piece by Dr Susan Crockford, the polar bear expert, who lifts the lid on the way climate activists use the old "polar bears are dying because of climate change" story: 

Activists just can’t stop using emotional blackmail to sell the climate change narrative | polarbearscience

METEOROLOGIST CAUGHT OUT GIVING OUT MISLEADING INFORMATION ON THE BBC

Is it any wonder that the public believe that storms are becoming more intense, even though the official Met Office information says this is not true. 

London, 13 February – The UK Met Office has been accused of seriously misleading the public about climate-driven storms in the UK.

 
On 22nd January, the day after Storm Isha, a senior meteorologist from the Met Office stated on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast that “when we see these storms they are more intense and that’s down to climate change”.

More intense storms down to climate change, meteorologist says

Putting Isha into context, a senior meteorologist from the Met Office has explained that the "more intense" storms the UK is experiencing are caused by climate change.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, Claire Nasir said: "In 2023, we began on a rainfall deficit and had two intense heatwaves, yet the UK saw the 11th wettest year on record."

She explained this shift between extremes in weather patterns in the UK would continue in the future.

However, after being challenged through a FOI request to provide evidence for the claim that storms have become more intense, the Met Office was forced to admit they have no such evidence. 
 
In its response, the Met Office also referred to its own UK Storm activity report which clearly states that “there is no compelling trend in maximum gust speeds recorded in the UK since 1969.”
 
We call on the Met Office to publish a full retraction of what is evidently a false and misleading claim.
 
Notes for editors 
 
Met Office: Recent trends and future projections of UK storm activity: “This report found that there is no compelling trend in maximum gust speeds recorded in the UK since 1969, measured as the number of days more than 20 weather stations recorded gust speeds above 40, 50 or 60 knots.” 
 
Met Office: State of the UK Climate 2022 (page 47):  “Storm Eunice [in 2022] was the most severe storm to affect England and Wales since February 2014, but even so, these storms of the 1980s and 1990s were very much more severe.” 
 
Paul Homewood: Met Office cannot provide evidence for “more intense storms” claim
 
Contact
 
Dr Benny Peiser,
Director, Global Warming Policy Foundation

CHINA BUILT 96% OF COAL PLANTS IN 2023

I thought the Chinese were building a lot, but that is a staggering figure, because India is also building a lot too. It makes the UK efforts to decarbonise at great cost to our prosperity seem like a drop in the ocean. 

 China Was Responsible for 96% of Coal Plants Constructed in 2023 | OilPrice.com

DATA TAMPERING ON SEA LEVEL SHOWN UP

Have a look at this latest video highlighting the data manipulation going on with sea level.

 Rapidly Rising Sea Level | Real Climate Science

CLIMATE DATA CORRUPTION STILL CONTINUES

Take a look at this new video from Tony Heller which explains how USA data is altered to turn a cooling trend into a warming one. 

Climate Data Corruption Business (Part 2) | Real Climate Science

METHANE IS IRRELEVANT TO GLOBAL WARMING - SCIENTIFIC PAPER PROVES IT

The next big change that governments are already trying to bring in is to drastically reduce the number of livestock on our farms under the pretext of the false claim that these animals are causing global warming due to their farts emitting methane. This is going to be devastating and will have no effect according to the latest scientific research, which is being ignored. 

Below is a link to an excellent lecture hosted by the Irish Climate Science Foundation on Sept 21, 2022. In the lecture Dr Sheahen focuses on the work of Professors Will Happer and William van Wijngaarden in their pioneering work in calculating the real-world Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) of the five most common Green-House Gases (GHGs). He emphasizes how their calculations have now been precisely verified by satellite measurements, thus validating their research. These results verify the actual low GWPs of these GHGs, and, in particular, of the irrelevance of the impact of Methane on climate. The results have profound implications, particularly for agriculturally based economies like those of Ireland and New Zealand. He will conclude that there is no scientific basis for regressive agricultural policy; on the contrary, global food scarcity should dictate its further development. Here is the link:

“Methane – The Irrelevant Green-House Gas” Dr Thomas P Sheahen (youtube.com)

Dr. Thomas P. Sheahen holds BS and PhD degrees in physics from MIT. Dr. Sheahen is author of the textbook, “Introduction to High Temperature Superconductivity.” He has authored numerous papers on topics including infrared Fourier spectroscopy for rocket re-entry instrumentation, and harsh industrial instrumentation. His work includes analysis of measurement economics, research program plans, industrial energy conservation and renewable energy technology.

EXTREME WEATHER IS NOT GETTING WORSE

In short:

• There are no long term trends in Atlantic hurricane activity
• Hurricanes are not becoming more intense
• There was a marked decline in hurricane frequency during the 1970s and 80s, partly due to natural variability (AMO*) and maybe also due to reduced pollution.
• Since 1990, hurricane frequency has returned levels prior to that period of decline.
• *Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation
• Read the details here:

 The Truth Comes Back To Haunt Bob Ward! | NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT (wordpress.com)

MARK STEYN LOSES HIS CASE AGAINST MANN

This is a sad day for freedom of speech and also a bad day for justice.

 Jury finds in favor of Michael Mann in defamation lawsuit against Mark Steyn, Rand Simberg – Watts Up With That?

The Hockey Stick graph has been thoroughly debunked and yet a Washington DC jury chose to find in favour of Mann. We will have to wait and see what happens next.

ARE BIG OIL COMPANIES LEARNING THAT OIL AND GAS MAKE MORE MONEY THAN RENEWABLES?

That would seem to be the case when reading this article:

 BP lost $1b in wind power and just flipped from cutting oil by 40% to increasing it « JoNova (joannenova.com.au)

It would appear that despite all the hype over renewables, there is still a big future for the traditional fossil fuels. Shareholders have had enough and expect companies to boost their profits instead of moving into a risky new market. Of course these companies will not make money by operating in countries with a hostile tax regime and unreliable, expensive electricity.

MANN V STEYN COMING TO AN END

 Some call this the Trial of the Century, yet it has received no publicity in the mainstream media here in the UK. What is at stake is the right to freedom of speech, but also the validity of the much lauded Hockey Stick graph which denied the existence of the Little Ice Age and the Medieval Warm Period. Aside from these important items there is also the character of the climate scientist, Mann, which has come under the spotlight throughout the trial. Key passages of the trial have been re-enacted and can be freely accessed at the link here:

Climate Change on Trial on Apple Podcasts

It makes fascinating listening. The verdict may come in the next day or two.

CLIMATE CHANGE LINK TO MODERN SLAVERY

 That is what I was told in an email sent to me recently. It seems such a ridiculous idea that I read the accompanying blurb to see how they made the connection and who was behind this. Who turned out to be Nottingham University Geography Department along with Nottingham Rights Lab. Here is a brief piece from their press release:

"Changing environmental conditions and slow onset events, such as drought, and rapid-onset events , such as earthquakes, can cause long-term displacement or long-term migration, which can heighten the risk of vulnerabilities that could be exploited."

Clearly people are made more vulnerable when faced with crises like these, but since when were earthquakes caused by the climate? Migration is definitely on the increase, but this is being fueled by many factors much more powerful than a change in climate. War must be by far the biggest, and then there is the fact that the world is so much more connected by the internet and mobile phones. Most migrants simply want a better life and who can blame them for that? Linking this with climate change looks like a way to increase publicity.

Just to prove I am not making this up, here is the link for anyone interested:

News - Combined action on climate change and modern slavery presents new opportunities, research finds - University of Nottingham 

NAMING HEATWAVES - THE LATEST GIMMICK FROM MPs

Those who are pushing the climate agenda are always looking for new ways to try and convince a sceptical public that the weather is getting much more extreme. So they are now suggesting that spells of hot weather should be given names to make them stand out more. They will probably try and find the scariest names they can find. I can't wait to see the choices!

 Could UK heatwaves be given names this summer? - BBC Weather

RENEWABLE ELECTRIC DEALS DON'T ADD UP

Readers of this blog may recall an earlier post about REGOs (climate science: REGOs - WHAT ARE THEY?) A lot of large companies are very keen to demonstrate their green credentials, as explained in the article below:

Amazon’s Deal With Moray West Wind Farm Baffles Silly Telegraph Reporter | NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT (wordpress.com)

The problem with all this, as I explained earlier, is that there is only a certain amount of green electricity to go round, so all this virtue-signalling comes at a price. Companies like Amazon who use vast amounts of electricity for their computers are naturally keen to grow and so consume more and more electricity, thus depriving the home-owners and small businesses of their share. Of course many of them are not bothered whether their electricity is green or not. What we are all discovering is that our electricity is getting more and more expensive, and that is a concern to all of us. 

WEATHER WAS JUST AS WARM IN JANUARY 50 YEARS AGO

What we are being told , is that the weather today is somehow dramatically different to that of the past, but any look at the past weather shows that the weather has always had times when there has been unseasonably hot or cold weather.

 Germany’s “Spring in Winter” Lasted Weeks, Reached 15°C In January 1974! – Watts Up With That?

CO2 IS GREENING THE WORLD - GOOD NEWS BEING SUPPRESSED

When climate change is mentioned,it is always the bad news that is exposed, whereas any good news is covered up, or even denied altogether,

 Burn oil, save forests: Global greening is accelerating in 55% of the world thanks to fossil fuels « JoNova (joannenova.com.au)

DID ANYONE VOTE TO SEND £BILLIONS TO CHINA?

 This is the likely outcome of the new legislation to cut back the number of petrol and diesel vehicles sold in the UK. Read the details here:

UK To Subsidise China Car Manufacturers | NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT (wordpress.com)

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY CAUGHT DISTORTING THE FACTS

Yet more evidence that we are being fed with a distortion of the truth. 

EA Can’t Even Get Simple Facts Right | NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT (wordpress.com)