PM’s comments backing development of untapped North Sea reserves to reduce household energy costs branded ‘incoherent’ – as most fuel will be exported overseas.
Rishi Sunak’s claim that approving new licences for North Sea drilling will make energy bills cheaper has been blasted as “pure spin” by campaigners.
Backing the development of untapped oil and gas fields on a visit to Scotland, the Prime Minister claimed it would bolster energy security by making the UK less reliant on gas from “dictators” like Vladimir Putin.
In a tweet, the PM also insisted on his move: “This will boost domestic gas productions, which means British homes and businesses will have access to cleaner and cheaper energy.”
But green groups and charities said this wasn’t true and amounted to “smoke and mirrors” – because most of the fuel produced by any new North Sea fields will be exported abroad rather than benefiting Brits.
Prime Minister Rishi “Biggles” Sunak says it’s absolutely fine for him to use a chopper instead of getting a train because he’s “running the country”
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Climate change activists say Rishi’s jetsetting is unnecessarily pumping harmful CO2 into the atmosphere.
Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Wera Hobhouse raged: “The Prime Minister just cannot help himself. He should catch a train for once to see what the rest of us have to put up with.
“When you catch private flights to Southampton and Dorset, you know you have a problem.”
Image of InBedWithBigOil by Not Here To Be Liked + Hex Prints from Just Stop Oil’s You May Find Yourself… art auction. Rishi Sunak, Fossil Fuels and Rupert Murdoch appear.
‘Climate change is already battering the planet with unprecedented wildfires and heatwaves across the globe.’
The Prime Minister has today been condemned by opposition politicians as well as environmental groups after announcing the approval of about 100 new North Sea oil and gas licences amid a climate emergency.
Sunak, who says he’s committed to net zero, made the announcement during a visit to Aberdeenshire, arguing that the move would help the UK reach its target of meeting net zero by 2050.
It also draws a sharp dividing line with the Labour Party which has said that it will block new oil and gas developments in Britain if it wins power, saying it would focus instead on investments in renewable sources such as wind and nuclear power.
Sunak’s announcement comes at a time when the UN General Secretary is warning that the era of global warming has ended and “the era of global boiling has arrived”, after scientists confirmed July was on track to be the world’s hottest month on record and with heat waves causing wildfires in Europe’s Mediterranean region, Sunak seems totally divorced from reality with his latest announcement.
Reacting to the Prime Minister’s announcement of new oil and gas licences, Friends of the Earth’s head of policy, Mike Childs, said: “Rishi Sunak’s energy security drive should focus on energy efficiency and the UK’s vast home-grown renewable resources, rather than championing more costly and dirty fossil fuels.
“Climate change is already battering the planet with unprecedented wildfires and heatwaves across the globe. Granting hundreds of new oil and gas licences will simply pour more fuel on the flames, while doing nothing for energy security as these fossil fuels will be sold on international markets and not reserved for UK use.”
“The U.K. government is blatantly in denial about climate breakdown.”
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced Monday that his government will approve hundreds of new licenses for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, drawing anger from climate advocates who say he’s doing the bidding of the fossil fuel industry amid a nightmarish wave of extreme weather.
Paying lip service to the nation’s net-zero emissions target, the Tory leader also laid out plans for two new carbon capture and storage facilities in Northeast Scotland and the Humber, lining up behind an oil industry-backed approach to reining in pollution that critics say is a false solution to the global climate crisis.
“Burning oil and gas is driving extreme weather and killing people on every continent, yet Rishi Sunak is gleefully encouraging the arsonists to go and put more fuel on the fire,” said Mary Church, a campaigner with Friends of the Earth Scotland. “By committing to future licensing rounds on the same day, it’s clear to see that carbon capture is little more than a greenwashing tactic by Big Oil to try and keep their climate-wrecking industry in business.”
Major fossil fuel giants such as Shell and BP have maintained oil and gas facilities in the North Sea for years. According to a recent analysis by Greenpeace, oil and gas licenses approved by the U.K. government over the past two years are set to generate as much carbon dioxide as Denmark emits annually—roughly the equivalent of 14 million cars.
“History will view this as an act of gross criminality. Our future sacrificed for the profits of a tiny elite.”
Philip Evans of Greenpeace U.K. said Monday that Sunak’s new announcements are “nothing but a cynical political ploy to sow division, and the climate is collateral damage.”
“Just as wildfires and floods wreck homes and lives around the world, Rishi Sunak’s government has decided to row back on key climate policies, attempted to toxify net zero, and recycled old myths about North Sea drilling,” said Evans. “Relying on fossil fuels is terrible for our energy security, the cost of living, and the climate. Our sky-high bills and recent extreme weather have demonstrated that.”
“Rishi Sunak knows that any oil and gas from the North Sea will just be sold on the international market, making oil companies even richer at the expense of the rest of us. How will this help our bills exactly?” Evans asked, countering the prime minister’s claims that new drilling will enhance the U.K.’s “energy security.”
“If Sunak were serious about boosting our energy security while keeping energy bills down,” Evans continued, “he’d remove the absurd barriers holding back cheap, homegrown renewables and launch a nationwide insulation program to tackle energy waste in our homes.”
Nick Dearden, director of the U.K.-based advocacy group Global Justice Now, wrote that “history will view this as an act of gross criminality. Our future sacrificed for the profits of a tiny elite.”
“The talk of securing our independence couldn’t be further from the truth,” Dearden added. “This leaves us on the hook for £billions, even if the next govt rescinds these contracts, as they must, the fossil fuel elite will pocket a fortune at our expense.”
In addition to the new drilling license commitments, the Financial Timesreported Sunday that the U.K. government has “made it cheaper for industry to pollute in Britain compared with the E.U. by watering down reforms to the carbon market.”
“The U.K. government is blatantly in denial about climate breakdown,” said Church.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to announce a multi-million pound carbon capture scheme called Acorn. Carbon Capture has never worked and is instead a manufactured hoax by the oil and gas industry to enable themselves to continue profiteering and fekking the planet.
Sunak must know this and is willing to waste more public millions further supporting the fossil fuel industry destroying the planet.
Bob Ward, head of policy at the Grantham Institute, said CCS technology would be needed for certain industries, but that using it to enable the continued use of fossil fuels was a mistake. “What does not make sense is to carry on with further development of new fossil fuel reserves on the assumption that CCS will be available to mop up all the additional emissions. While the costs of CCS will come down, it will make fossil fuel use even more expensive, and it will not eliminate all the risks resulting from the price volatility and energy insecurity of fossil fuels. A successful and competitive economy in the future will be powered by clean and affordable domestic energy, not unreliable and insecure fossils fuels,” he said.
“CCS is not required if the government moves to renewables as quickly as possible – especially as I am unaware of any CCS that works,” added Mark Maslin, professor of earth science at UCL.
Kevin Anderson, professor of energy and climate at Manchester, said: “When it comes to energy emissions, the claimed prospect of CCS continues its long-established role in supporting the development of the oil and gas industry and in further delaying real cuts in emissions. Given the huge cost, very high-life cycle emissions and appalling record of working as promised, there is little, if any, merit in pursuing CCS as a major plank of UK energy strategy.”
