The arguments from people opposed to climate action have gone through a number of steps.
first they argued that the earth was not warming
then they argued humans did not cause it
Now they try to argue that the cost will be too high. This is bizarre as basically any serious analysis suggests that the cost of doing nothing will be hundreds of times more expensive than cutting emissions now.
This new analysis is rather exciting. Not only does it suggest that this move could be cheaper and easier than thought, but it could also be used to quickly improve the lives of millions of people. Past estimates of cutting trillions from the UK economy through the move are totally false.
Wind and Solar prices have collapsed over the last decade, and are now cheaper than fossil fuels. The government must end all support of the fossil fuel industry being involved in power generation as soon as possible. With the advent of huge batteries and other power storage, the last bastion of fossil fuel “the peaker plants” are under threat. Batteries and dams can respond far faster than these peaker plants, and can do this in a carbon neutral way..
We have a legally binding target of net zero by 2050.
One of the most simple ways to approach this, is to make sure that within the net decade every new investment is fighting towards this goal. All new cars vans boilers and other machinery must be carbon zero.
If we do this, much of the move towards carbon neutrality is going to happen automatically. Many of these technologies are already cheaper than the fossil fuel ones. The few that are not are moving rapidly in this direction.
Currently, there is a frustratingly butterfly attention span of the government. Whether the economy needs to recover or there is a pandemic, or some other urgent matter, reducing our carbon emissions as a company must remain one of the highest priorities we have for the foreseeable future
