Dithering on renewable energy and insulation will leave people in Britain ‘colder and poorer’, campaigners warn
Rishi Sunak is facing further attacks on his plans to expand oil and gas exploration in the North Sea this week. The Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill – to be debated in the Commons on Monday – has already triggered widespread protests, including the resignation of Chris Skidmore, a former Conservative energy minister.
The bill aims to boost fossil fuel extraction by establishing a new system under which licences for North Sea oil and gas projects will be awarded annually.
Green groups and analysts are lining up to criticise it. UpLift, which campaigns for green energy, pointed out that the bill, which the government says will “max out” the UK’s reserves, will actually result in only a 2% rise in North Sea gas output. “The remaining 98% of gas demand will come from existing North Sea fields,” its analysis finds.
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“Sunak, like his predecessor Liz Truss, is obsessing over oil and gas, but dithering on renewables and insulation which will boost UK energy security and lower bills,” said Tessa Khan, executive director of UpLift. “And it’s making people in this country colder and poorer.”
Image of InBedWithBigOil by Not Here To Be Liked + Hex Prints from Just Stop Oil’s You May Find Yourself… art auction. Featuring Rishi Sunak, Fossil Fuels and Rupert Murdoch.
Rishi Sunak on stopping Rosebank says that any chancellor can stop his huge 91% subsidy to build Rosebank, that Keir Starmer is as bad as him for sucking up to Murdoch and other plutocrats and that we (the plebs) need to get organised to elect MPs that will stop Rosebank.
It is very likely that fossil fuel exploitation is unviable without fossil fuel subsidies.
According to calculations by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), seven trillion U.S. dollars were spent on direct and indirect subsidies for fossil fuels in 2022. The war in Ukraine and the resulting rise in energy prices are partly responsible for the significant increase in the previous year.
But even before that, the trend was already upwards, as this infographic illustrates. Subsidies are also likely to increase in the future. According to analysts, the reason for this is the economic growth of the Global South and the resulting increase in the consumption of coal, oil and gas.
Government support for fossil fuels is equivalent to just over seven percent of the planet’s economic output. A direct comparison with another important government budget item, for example, shows how enormous this sum is. Education spending by all countries combined accounts for 4.3 percent of global gross domestic product.
Countering fossil fuel subsidies, according to the IMF, would not only offer a chance to put humanity back on track to meet its climate goals, but could also prevent 1.6 million premature deaths per year and increase government revenues by $4.4 trillion.
I expect to do a few copies of Rishi Sunak £3BILLION subsidy to foreigners to take UK’s oil image with extra comments. First seen in this post, there’s a copy here with an empty speech bubble so that the you can have a go too. I use gimp, the Gnu Image Manipulation Program which is free. Don’t forget to upload it somewhere to be seen ;)
Referring to subsidies to develop the Rosebank oil field, image of UK Prime Minister reads Hey foreigners in huge boats, I’ll pay £3billion to take all our oil. This version has an empty speech bubble to fill in.
In May 2022 then UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak sabotaged the oil and gas windfall tax so that it was converted to a huge fossil fuel subsidy driving fossil fuel exploitation of the North Sea. This is a massive implicit fossil fuel subsidy while the UK government claims not to participate in fossil fuel subsidies. The UK taxpayer will be 91% financing development of the proposed Rosebank Oil development in the North Sea near the Faroe Islands. It is difficult to see any monetary benefits or justifications for the UK government financing foreigners to take North Sea oil. The UK plays no part other than paying for it, giving it away and buying it back from the international market at market rates if needed. The oil is going abroad and will be bought from abroad. Somebody please ask Rishi Sunak where is the benefit to UK.
Referring to subsidies to develop the Rosebank oil field, image of UK Prime Minister reads Hey foreigners in huge boats, I’ll pay £3billion to take all our oil.
It is very likely that fossil fuel exploitation is unviable without fossil fuel subsidies.
According to calculations by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), seven trillion U.S. dollars were spent on direct and indirect subsidies for fossil fuels in 2022. The war in Ukraine and the resulting rise in energy prices are partly responsible for the significant increase in the previous year.
But even before that, the trend was already upwards, as this infographic illustrates. Subsidies are also likely to increase in the future. According to analysts, the reason for this is the economic growth of the Global South and the resulting increase in the consumption of coal, oil and gas.
Government support for fossil fuels is equivalent to just over seven percent of the planet’s economic output. A direct comparison with another important government budget item, for example, shows how enormous this sum is. Education spending by all countries combined accounts for 4.3 percent of global gross domestic product.
Countering fossil fuel subsidies, according to the IMF, would not only offer a chance to put humanity back on track to meet its climate goals, but could also prevent 1.6 million premature deaths per year and increase government revenues by $4.4 trillion.
Addendum: Sunak is wasting this vast sum of money for some unknown reason. Is it corruption, does he expect some back in his back pocket or perhaps a job paying millions for nothing after being PM?
What I wanted to say was about these terrible floods that we’re experiencing at the moment. They are made much worse by climate change – that there is far more water in the air, that our climate has been destroyed. Getting back to this vast sum that Sunak is wasting. He’s wasting this vast sum and as a consequence our climate will be further damaged, will deteriorate further when it’s already fekked.
Image of the Green Party’s Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.
Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer reacts to the resignation of Tory environment champion Chris Skidmore:
“As the world burns, the Tories turn in on themselves. The government’s green credentials are truly in tatters.
“The climate crisis is here and now and being experienced by people across the country, but the Prime Minister can’t hold on to anyone who has any good intentions toward the environment.
“Labour has to be held to account as well – it refused to block Rosebank and other new oil and gas licences. How long before Labour’s own green champions feel their principles are too compromised to continue?”
