The Brexiteers are coming for a ‘zero carbon’ economy – we must be prepared

When it comes to bearing the hard costs of the transition to zero carbon, public support is shallow, writes Vince Cable

Tuesday 29 March 2022 13:56 BST
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<p>Westmill Wind Farm Co-op, the first onshore wind farm to be built in the southeast of England, in 2008 </p>

Westmill Wind Farm Co-op, the first onshore wind farm to be built in the southeast of England, in 2008

One of the few bits of consensus and optimism in Britain’s divided and fractious politics has been near-unanimity around a zero-carbon future with a specific target (2050). Moreover, it is a vision shared by our otherwise estranged European neighbours.

That consensus is now under assault from two directions: first, a new emphasis on energy security in light of the Ukraine war and disruption to Russia’s oil and gas exports. Second, the politics of populism and the associated difficulties of sustaining unpopular energy policies.

There is still much uncertainty about the impact of the war on energy markets. We do however have the precedent of the 1973, then 1979, “oil shocks”, which produced global inflation, then recession, and a big move to energy efficiency and reduced oil use.

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