Turtle Castle image by SAIF 4
The following post on the topic of NetZero is syndicated from jonova.com.au
Rishi Sunak’s delay in the NetZero Quest was the crack in the Uniparty Wall
Thanks to NetZeroWatch
It threatens to ignite a climate election. It matters, because now, suddenly, one party can point out the absurdities and the costs. They can be an Opposition, and mock the sacred cows. That doesn’t mean Sunak will do that, but the fork in the road has opened, the world is watching — and his party is suddenly up four points.
The Green funds cartel is “in shock” sayth Bloomberg, at the Sunak shift — so it must be pretty serious. Green investors are using the words “dismay” and “bewilderment”, which they almost never use. Green investment relies almost entirely on crowd psychology and government subsidies, so normally bad news is padded and fluffed so it doesn’t look so bad. We wouldn’t want to lose momentum would we? Boy are they losing momentum.
Meanwhile Sweden has not only cut climate money a bit, it’s unshackled some taxes off fossil fuels as well, leaving the centre left apoplectic and threatening to move motions of no-confidence. It is unthinkable, apparently, but Sweden might even increase emissions.
Germany has suspended draconian building efficiency standards and stepped back from their full gas boiler ban. They had wanted to ban all new “fossil” heaters from 2024, but after fierce protests, have instead brought in a much diluted and delayed version due to be adopted in 2028. President Emmanuel Macron must have been watching the German and British debacles. His new plan rules out a complete ban on gas boilers, and talks about protecting vulnerable people in rural areas, and even how the French love their cars.
What’s more scary than climate change? — The rise of the far-right
The quote of the day is from a German politician who sums up the major driver of these policy shifts.
Earlier this month, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner told Politico that stricter energy efficiency rules for buildings could fuel the rise of the far-right, amid growing apathy across Europe over plans to reach net zero.
So Climate Change might cause the sixth mass extinction of life on Earth, but nothing is more frightening than the possibility of the far-left losing power at elections.*
Polls have leapt for the conservative government in the UK since Rishi Sunak slowed the NetZero train
This is what all the Climate-believer politicians are afraid of. Deep down, they know the NetZero quest is not popular with the masses, even though they say it is all the time. If they thought climate policies were really winners with the workers, they wouldn’t be so afraid of their opponents catching the skeptical train would they? Instead, they are aghast when their opponents dare suggest other priorities might be higher than changing the weather.
Nightmare for ‘unpopular’ Starmer as lead over Tories plummets in shock new poll
Express, UK
Deltapoll polled people from the 22nd to 25th, and saw a four point swing from Labour to the Tories compared to their last poll 10 days ago. Labour are down three points, with Mr Sunak’s party rising five points. While Labour is still ahead of the Tories by 16 points, this is a significant swing in a short amount of time.
The poll was of 1,507 adults from Great Britain…
This is a very good sign. Financial types almost never speak unguarded, out loud, lest they scare the horses. This is panic:
Green fund managers in ‘complete shock’ after Sunak’s Net Zero rollback
Bloomberg
Some of the world’s biggest green investors are voicing dismay and bewilderment as they struggle to digest the UK government’s stated intention to wind back key climate commitments.
“It was a complete shock,” said Ian Simm, founder and chief executive of London-based Impax Asset Management Group Plc, a low-carbon fund investor overseeing close to $50 billion in assets. Britain’s official policy now represents “a risk for anyone considering an investment in the UK that’s dependent on government policy,” he said.
Investments in “government policy” are always riskier compared to investments in essential goods and services. They’re shaking, because the magic spell has broken. The cash cow might evaporate.
Unthinkable — Sweden has not only cut funding to climate action but cut the taxes on fossil fuels too:
by Miranda Bryant, The Guardian
Sweden’s government has come under criticism after unveiling a budget that will dramatically increase carbon emissions.
The budget, unveiled on Wednesday morning, includes a 259m krona (£19m) reduction in funding for climate and environmental measures next year, and tax cuts on petrol and diesel.
Rickard Nordin, the climate and energy spokesperson for the opposition Centre party, condemned the climate cuts, which he said were unprecedented.
“What has happened is that the Swedish government is consciously increasing emissions,” he said. “No Swedish government in modern times has consciously increased emissions. Few countries in the world have done that and it’s extremely serious.”
Amazing he could say it with a straight face — few countries have consciously increased emissions, he says, as if China and India don’t exist.
Macron is changing his tune too:
“We will not prohibit” the installation of new gas boilers, he said, “because we cannot leave our compatriots, particularly in the most rural areas, without a solution,” said Mr Macron.
Mr Sunak pushed back the ban on purchases of new gas boilers to 2035.
The French “love their car, and I do too” said Mr Macron on Sunday in a prime-time TV interview, acknowledging public reluctance to switch to electric vehicles with higher purchase prices than combustion-engine cars.
So many key words repeated in so many countries at the same time.
*We breathe a sigh of relief that some elections still matter. This is good news.
Find more blogs from Joanne Nova here.