There was an op-ed in Spiked Online that I found particularly intriguing because of several Net Zero-related things Ebola* (now stationed in England) and I had just discussed over the weekend. 

If only he was deferring to climate 'experts'.

Instead he's deferring to the climate charlatans (UN, WEF etc.) & doing their bidding - at great expense to the UK.

Want proof? Ask him to produce the go-to climate report that categorically proves his climate claims.

He can't.

— Seriously Cynical (@cynicalmerch) January 13, 2025

Spiked deputy editor Fraser Myers said the unyielding Net Zero policies of rabid climate cultist Ed Milliband, Keir Starmer's Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, were 'taking them off a cliff.' The technocrats in charge of the budget and energy were leading the country into a disaster - I'm going to focus on the energy part.

Two signs of impending disaster reared into view last week. On Tuesday, the cost of UK government borrowing passed the peak it reached in the autumn of 2022, in the wake of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget. Then, on Wednesday evening, the British energy system came the closest it has been to blackouts in decades.

Worse still, this dire news is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to energy and the economy. Britain now faces the highest industrial energy prices in the developed world, with UK businesses paying four times as much as American businesses. The UK economy, as well as facing bond-market turbulence, has stagnated, with no growth recorded in the last quarter. The heightened cost of borrowing means a fresh round of austerity measures could be on the way, involving hikes to already eye-watering tax levels or spending cuts to already strained public services.

....It’s a similar story for energy. For decades, energy policy has been shaped by climate bureaucrats seeking to decarbonise the grid, rather than consumers’ and industry’s need for cheap, stable power. Labour’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband, may be an especially zealous exponent of Net Zero, but he is merely accelerating and building on the state’s existing priorities.

The risks of relying too heavily on renewables ought to be obvious to everyone. Wind and solar power cannot produce electricity when the wind doesn’t blow or the Sun doesn’t shine. This creates obvious problems during cold, dark winters – as we saw last week. Yet many state-appointed experts remain in a state of denial about all this. They will even insist – contrary to all available evidence – that renewables will make electricity cheaper and more secure. It is hardly a surprise, then, that UK energy prices are so high and that blackouts may even be on the horizon.

The chaos in the bond markets and the increasing likelihood of blackouts are clear signs that Britain’s technocratic consensus is colliding with reality. Just don’t expect the likes of Rachel Reeves and Ed Miliband to sit up and take notice. Their commitment to these failed orthodoxies runs very deep indeed.

The 'near blackouts' Myers refers to are the shortages and astronomically high short-term rates charged by natural gas power generating plants to make up the renewable shortage I told you about last week. In the midst of the coldest winter in 15 years in the UK, the country was rudely made aware it is not prepared to cover the power requirements to keep the lights and heat on. The price to do so was eyewatering.

...So it's nice if you have enough power generation available at the snap of a notice, but you also have to pay a premium for it. And holy smokes - did that standby generation capacity ever cost Britain a fortune last night. 

That early £932MWh above?

GOOD TIMES, GOOD TIMES

£5500MWh was, at one point, the going rate to keep the country from completely going dark. Generator operators could name their price; they did, and desperate grid managers had to bite. Literally, the call went out to 'supply at ANY COST."

Two natural gas backup plants made £12M for three hours of operation, relieving the crisis.

That the country is ill-prepared to serve the utility needs they have now hasn't stopped Milliband and the NetZero fiends one iota. 

NET ZERO - “get your candles out & install a log burner”

Net Zero energy insecurity laid bare by @DrHoenderkamp

And make no mistake, criticism of Net Zero will be as stigmatised as criticism of Covid lockdowns were. Until we’re proved right … again!

pic.twitter.com/3f9khiroBx

— Bernie (@Artemisfornow) January 12, 2025

...We came the closest to we've come to blackout in fifteen years...

I've written post after post about the British and European car industry begging the government to reconsider their 2030 all-EV mandate and the ruinous fines associated with the same. Not only will those drive car manufacturing itself out of England altogether, but it will also severely impact the brands that sell in the country and their dealerships.

At the beginning of the month, everyone was pleading for a time-out.

Like everything this PM has done we will be lucky 2 have enough charging stations. Have they forgotten that most cars will only do journeys of around 400 mile so the waiting time will be intolerable. It will be a long time 2 get from Aberdeen 2 London. Stagecoaches comes 2 mind🤣

— alexander laird (@alexanderlair10) January 13, 2025

Under pressure from EU manufacturers as well, the Labour government pretended to reconsider the ban before announcing, "PSYCHE! We're not reconsidering anything." And continued moving their blueprint - The Climate and Nature Bill - forward.

It's a nasty piece of business (Bill pdf is here) and I will just give you a few highlights from this excellent synopsis Xweet.

🚗 The Climate and Nature Bill Will Ground the UK 🚗

The Climate and Nature Bill, heading for its second reading on 24 January, will make travel expensive, restrictive, and, for many, impossible.

This is what it means for transportation:

1️⃣ Banning Fossil Fuel Vehicles

Under…

— Chris Littlewood (@chrislittlewoo8) January 12, 2025

1. Banning Fossil Fuel Vehicles Under Clause 2(3)(d), the Bill mandates the rapid end of fossil fuels. This will mean: Petrol and diesel vehicles will be outlawed, forcing people to rely on expensive electric vehicles. Millions of families who cannot afford the switch will lose their ability to travel...

2. Public Transport Overload While the Bill pushes for increased public transport use, current infrastructure is not prepared to handle the increased demand. This will result in: Overcrowded trains and buses, especially in urban areas...

3. Restrictions on Air Travel Air travel is explicitly targeted, with recommendations to limit passenger growth and impose higher taxes on flights. This means: Foreign holidays will become a luxury only the wealthy can afford....

4. Impact on Goods and Freight Restrictions on fossil fuels and increased transport costs will severely disrupt the movement of goods, leading to: Higher prices for everyday items due to increased logistics costs...

Of course, they have a climate czar, too, whom no one has ever cast a vote for.

This is Piers Foster

Chairman of the Committee on Climate Change

If the Climate and Nature Bill is passed in Parliament he will become by far the most powerful person in the country

His word will be Law about just about everything

Never heard of him?

Voted for him?

Nor me pic.twitter.com/zl4kyxVhje

— Latimer Alder (@latimeralder) January 12, 2025

During our messaging back and forth this weekend, Ebola sent this article along with a "Weelll. Let's hope that's nonsense." comment.

Perfect storm reduces UK winter gas storage to ‘concerningly low’ levels

Plunging temperatures and high demand for gas fired power stations have reduced UK winter gas storage to concerningly low levels.

The UK’s gas storage is under pressure this winter as the UK battles both extreme cold and high gas prices. The ongoing colder-than-usual conditions in the UK combined with the end of Russian gas pipeline supplies through Ukraine on 31 December 2024 has meant that gas inventory levels across the UK are down. As of the 9th of January 2025, UK storage sites are 26% lower than last year’s inventory at the same time, leaving them around half full. This means the UK has less than a week of gas demand in store. 

Gas storage was already lower than usual heading into December as a result of the early onset of winter. Combined with stubbornly high gas prices, this has meant that it has been more difficult to top up storage over Christmas. 

The situation is echoed across Europe. By 7 January 2025, despite many countries mandating minimum storage levels ahead of winter, European storage was at 69% capacity, down from 84% at the same time the previous year. The UK’s total gas storage capacity is around 10 per cent or less than in France, Germany, or the Netherlands. 

I sent him my post on the near blackout to strip all hope that it was. And then, having just seen the breakdown of the Climate and Nature Bill, I sent that along, too, just to completely ruin his day. Ebola loves his little village, but he hates living in the Orwellian UK - that is an overwhelming sentiment from almost all of his compatriots stationed there.

And he pointed out something from a US military perspective that I hadn't even considered, and it made me wonder if it's even on the DoD radar. To be honest, they do have other things to mind besides UK NetZero insanity.

England and the US do not have a regular Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) even though the UK says their Visiting Forces Act incorporates the NATO SOFA into UK law. For example, the NATO plates Ebola has used on his vehicle being stationed all across Europe are not recognized by the UK as legal, even though England is a NATO member, just like Italy and Germany. He had to get British plates for his car, a process that took some big money and two extra months of waiting.

This is the sort of non-cooperative annoyances that come with being stationed there, besides finding out, if you live offbase as many do since many of our bases do not have housing, that there are a million and one nickel and dime things the British bleed you to death for. Another example - you have to have a license to have a TV or dish in your home. That separate license is from the government and has nothing to do with the cable or streaming services you're paying for. Ebola's place has the owner's inoperable Dish TV satellite on a side roof, and he received a letter from the authorities telling him to pay the licensing fee by a specific date. If he chose to argue instead of pay - or ignored it - they'd be at his door to inspect to ensure he didn't have a device in the house to watch anything on or with.

It is hugely expensive living on the local UK economy as the vast majority of our troops there must do, and the US government is sadly lacking in their support for what they expect when they ship you there. Again, Ebola was told to have $10-15K cash in hand to set up his household - the government would settle up later. Imagine doing that as an E-4 with a wife and two kids. Where would you get that kind of money? It can often run to more as rentals are hard to find, and you wind up paying lodging charges out of your pocket until you find an approved place.

All this and now the possibility of an EV mandate in five years. What does that mean to an American serviceman and perhaps their family? Well, what it means is that there is no waiver in a SOFA that allows you to bring your internal combustion engine into the country when you are stationed in England or Scotland for three years or whatever. Are you going to have to store your vehicle for your tour? Spend £40K to buy an EV and hope you can sell it when you PCS out? Or do you take a chance on a used one?

There are lots of possible wrinkles to this.

As our boy said:

No SOFA protections for US troops on this stuff and E-3s aren't pooping 60K a 3 yr move for a car. That's gonna cause some major ramifications or exceptions to have to be made.

Given a lot of the bases have no base housing and no public service, that means that we literally wouldn't be able to man operations.

You wouldn't be able to ship your car, because how would you get gas?

Takes two months to get the effing V5 to drive your car as it is, because the brits won't make an exception OR ALLOW YOU TO DRIVE ON NATO PLATES.

The deleterious impact on our troops and their readiness status is one more unforeseen consequence of an ill-considered, dogma-driven rush to a transformation that doesn't need to happen - a "green" transformation which, so far, has benefitted no one but those selling it.

*Our son was one of the very first computer and gaming savants in the early 90s, winning tournaments and designing "skins" for games not long after Al Gore invented the innerwebs. Unfortunately, he also had a knack for catching the first viruses. One was so virulent that it wiped his computer and all of my work and required one of his father's computer geeks to come from base with a DoD program to finally exterminate it. His uncle Bingley nicknamed him "Ebola," and it has been his nom-de-innerwebs ever since.