We all know the United Kingdom has ruinously sold their souls to the climate cult, and continue to pay dearly for it both in term of skyrocketing utility rates and miserable, unreliable electricity for what they’re spending. The quality of life for your average homeowner in the British Isles is challenging at best.

Over a year ago I wrote about how British homeowners, “broken by energy costs,” were turning to something called “warm banks” in an effort not to freeze to death during the cold spells the encountered.

…You know how here, when the temps are forecast to drop below freezing, and a “Code Blue” goes into effect for a locale’s homeless population – where they open the libraries and public heated spaces, so folks can get off the freezing sidewalks and into someplace warm?

This is the British version of that concept. The problem with it is that it’s not for the homeless. These government-designated refuges are for homeowners, who are at risk of freezing to death in their own homes because they can no longer afford the heating oil, gas and/or electricity to keep them livable. All this during what is shaping up to be a brutal winter.

The situation is not much improved, and the British are inexplicably leaning towards electing a buffoon whose platform is more wind, solar, plus banning all new North Sea oil and gas drilling, and licking his chops at the chance of bulldozing over rural citizens’ objections to his “Get Green Quick” push.

Keir Starmer is a socialist Labour peach.

Labour would fast-track countryside wind turbines and solar panels under net zero drive
Starmer is pushing hard to win over rural voters but Tories have accused him of planning to ‘concrete over the countryside’

Labour has pledged to fast-track the building of wind and solar farms in the countryside, raising concerns rural communities will struggle to block net zero projects.

Under the party’s plans, the wait farmers face to have green energy schemes approved and connected to the grid by new pylons will be “slashed from years to months”.

…But the remarks will add to fears that Labour could water down the powers of rural communities to block new solar panels, wind farms and pylons.

Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to “bulldoze through” opposition to development and rewrite planning law to end local vetoes over green energy projects.

The Labour leader said last June that “there has to come a point where, if we’re going to move forward, we don’t have simple individual vetoes across the whole of the country”.

He also told his party conference in October that he would “fight the blockers” to build more wind and solar farms and “lay the cables our future prosperity needs”.

Polling by Public First published last October showed one in three Britons would oppose new power lines being built within three miles of their home.

But the consultancy firm said Labour would be “less vulnerable” to local protests because most green energy projects were set to be built in Tory constituencies.

No worries, right? It’s all going to happen in the backyards of the opposition party’s voters!

Labour is the Brit version of American Democrats and this fascist climate cult crusader – telling you flat out how he is going to destroy the country (Sound familiar?) – is leading in the polls.

When you’ve thrust the stick even deeper into your own eye, don’t complain to me that you can’t see and OW your eye hurts.

So, the weather this winter has been ghastly and, unsurprisingly, solar and wind have had themselves a time keeping the lights on.

The wind output has been half of generation capacity…

…and solar’s been virtually non-existent.

What HAS been keeping the furnaces perking along and those miserable heat pumps running?

Pretty much natural gas, with a reliable assist from coal and nuclear.

British electricity mix at 6am on 18th Jan 2024

🏭Gas 57.9% Biomass 6.8% Coal 3.5%
🍃Wind 19.1% Solar 0.0% Hydro 1.3%
⚛️Nuclear 6.4%
➡️Imports 3.9% Other 0.9%
🪫Storage 0.2%

🔌Generation 39GW
Carbon intensity 334 gCO2e/kWh
vs 50-100 gCO2e/kWh target by 2030

— British Electricity Tracker (by Andrew Crossland) (@myGridGB) January 18, 2024

If the UK voted for Keir Starmer’s world, they wouldn’t have that natgas. Starmer would desperately be trying to shut down the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant under construction, plus scuttle whatever progress the Sunak government had made as far as encouraging more development.

But the world has a strange way of giving people a chance to experience things before they vote for them. Britain may well have its chance to live through a winter without their normal natgas supplies, thanks to a Houthi curveball.

Welcome to Life Under Labour – the Free Preview Edition.

Qatar has suspended shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) through the Red Sea in a move that could force Britain to rely on its emergency fuel stockpiles.

The Gulf nation, which is Britain’s third biggest gas supplier, has “paused” shipments of LNG through the Bab El-Mandeb strait at the mouth of the Red Sea as Houthi rebels attack vessels in the area. QatarEnergy, the state owned giant, is considering rerouting ships around Africa instead as conflict in the area continues.

…Diversion around the Cape of Good Hope would add around 10 days to delivery times.

…Analysts warned that the delays meant the UK may have to draw down on its gas reserves or pay to import supplies from Europe. The disruption has coincided with a cold snap that is pushing up demand for gas in both the UK and Europe.

Nearly 14pc of the UK’s total gas imports come from Qatar, making it Britain’s third largest gas supplier. It is a particularly vital source of LNG, providing 30pc of the UK’s imports in 2022.

…The UK only has a small amount of gas in storage – enough to cover seven days’ of use based on current levels of demand, Mr Macpherson said.

Oh, hello. Doesn’t that sound fun? And do you know what those British utility bills will look like if they have to pull LNG from the Europeans?

The French are going to be smirking into their baguettes, having dumped their renewable energy goals while the potato was still hot.

…France now seems to have learned its lesson, bucking EU dogmatism for what has actually worked in their country. In the seventies, the country built over fifty nuclear reactors in response to the oil shock. The result was one of the greatest decarbonizations in human history. Thanks to its (then beleaguered) nuclear fleet, the country generated one of the largest electricity surpluses in the world, making it a continental net exporter and the largest exporter of electricity on the planet in 2021, according to the Energy Information Administration. Even with an arm behind its back, the atom has come through for France.

So what’s next for nuclear in the country? Last year, French parliament voted to ramp up construction of six to eight new reactors, moving up construction at the Penly site from 2026 to this year. The country also aims to swap out some of its older reactors with newer power plants. Plus, the Flamanville EPR reactor is expected to begin operations this year after a decade of delay.

What a frickin’ mess. And what a potential disaster in the making, particularly if they get a significant polar event blow through.

BBBBRRRRRRRRrrrrr

Extinction Rebellion will have to double up on their little orange sweatshirts to fend off the Global Warming.