UK: ‘Net Zero’ plan threatens higher costs for families
An environmental proposal from Britain’s Labour Party is expected to cost British families an extra £1,000 ($1,247) per year, according to official estimates.
Labour Party Leader Sir Keir Starmer is set to officially unveil the £28 billion ($35 billion) Net Zero plan in Scotland this month, which aims to lower carbon emission to “fight climate change”.
As part of the plan, Starmer has made clear he intends to limit oil and gas extraction in the North Sea by refusing to grant any further licenses.
Starmer is facing strong criticism and fierce opposition to the plan. Oil union Offshore Energies UK says the initiative is likely to cost 40,000 jobs and cause a 60% reduction in domestic oil and gas production. GMB, a general trade union and one of Labour’s largest supporters, also warned that the plan will cost jobs. Some Labour MPs are worried the proposal will cost them votes, because “voters care more about jobs than green stuff.”
“It's all middle class bollocks,” another Labour MP told the Daily Mail. “We won't reach our targets for converting to electric cars and we may end up simply importing fossil fuels from abroad.”
A Treasury analysis found that the £28 billion plan is likely to hike interest rates by 0.75%. On a £200,000 ($250,000) mortgage, this comes out to an extra £83 ($103) per month, or £996 ($1,240) a year.
Starmer reacted to the backlash by trying to reassure trade unions that no jobs would be lost.
“I think we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity now to seize the jobs of the future,” he told reporters Monday. “Oil and gas will be part of that, because where there is [sic] existing licences they will go on to the 2050s and so oil and gas will be part of our energy mix for many, many years to come.”
Instead of oil and gas jobs, Starmer says he is promising jobs in clean energy.
“But we need to seize the opportunities for the next generation of jobs. And that is in renewables, it is in nuclear, Hinkley Point C here today, staring at the future.”
But the Labour leader is under pressure from environmental groups like Just Stop Oil, Countryside Charity and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Despite the Treasury’s analysis predicting higher costs for families, Starmer said he will in fact be saving British families money on bills.
“My government will lower household energy bills, create jobs and ensure Britain’s energy security,” he claimed, though he did not present an analysis.
Offshore Energy UK CEO David Whitehouse explained to the BBC how the Net Zero proposal is likely to harm the climate, and at great financial cost.
“In the UK today, 75 percent of the energy – what drives our cars, our boilers, our energy – is from oil and gas,” Whitehouse said.
“We domestically produce about 50 percent of that. If we choose now to eliminate further investment that means that 80 percent will have to be imported by the end of the decade.
“That has real-world implications for our energy sector. It means choosing to import oil and gas from countries that do not share our climate goals, and it means exporting the jobs and skills we need to secure our energy transition.”
