Jolly decent of you
In what will no doubt come as a relief across the UK, “We are absolutely not saying everyone needs to be vegan” according to Emily Nurse, “head of net zero at the UK government’s Climate Change Committee”.
How kind. You can still have some meat, just don’t expect to cook it or eat it in a warm house.
The Times reports, “The sale of new gas boilers should end in a decade’s time to meet the 2050 net zero emissions target, climate advisers have recommended, posing a fresh headache for Ed Miliband, who opposes a ban.” Our sympathy for Miliband is limited. The story explains that “The CCC has outlined sweeping changes to homes, transport, energy and farming to meet its suggested new goal of an 87 per cent cut in emissions by 2040”.
And few Britons have done more than Ed Miliband to create the mistaken impression that the nation can cut emissions by 87% in a decade and a half and be warm and happy doing it, only to discover, teeth chattering with fear, that voters whose teeth are chattering with cold object to the notion of getting rid of gas heaters that work in favour of heat pumps that don’t.
The British Climate Change Committee is also doing a weird balancing act of its own, with climate targets easy to hit provided massive action is taken.
The Grauniad reports that “Giving up two doner kebabs’ worth of meat a week will be enough to keep the UK within safe climate limits by the end of the next decade, as more drastic changes in behaviour can be avoided if the government takes action on greenhouse gases from energy, transport and industry, the UK’s climate advisers have said.”
The doner kebabs are exquisitely multicultural, though giving up a couple of bangers might meet with less resistance. But the notion of avoiding drastic changes in behaviour if only the government imposes them forcibly by shutting down heating, flying and manufacturing is fatuous.
The CCC also want to hit people who fly a lot with an extra tax. No word on whether politicians and bureaucrats are included. But those going on holiday are going to get it where it hurts, in the form of a “frequent flyer levy” that escalates:
“This is a tax that increases with the number of flights an individual takes. As higher-income groups tend to be less responsive to price changes, tax rates would need to be sufficiently high to manage demand.”
No major changes to your lifestyle, of course. Just the kebabs and the vacations and visits to family. And perhaps your political career because the Telegraph points out that:
“The proposals also risk pitting Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, against Rachel Reeves after she unveiled plans to build a third runway at Heathrow – a key element in her blueprint to kickstart the economy. It also calls into question the position of the Energy Secretary, who has previously said that any growth in UK airport capacity must be in line with the CCC’s recommendations. A Labour transport source said that while the CCC was set up as a statutory body under the Climate Change Act, its advice was not binding.”
So really just a PR stunt gone badly wrong.
Oh, and remember that thing about how climate activists were absolutely, positively not coming for your gas stove? As we warned, they are. Another Telegraph story notes that:
“The committee called on the Government to phase out the sale of gas cookers, as well as petrol and diesel-powered lawnmowers via restrictions on their sale. It did not provide a timeline but said alternatives – such as induction hobs and battery-powered lawnmowers – were already readily available and ‘better and more efficient than their fossil fuel equivalents’.”
If it were true there’d be no need for binding restrictions, since especially given the cost-of-living crisis the British government has already created by following the reckless advice of the CCC and its ilk for so long, shoppers would already be rushing for these superior alternatives their superiors seek to force on them. But according to the Telegraph it’s not:
“Battery-powered lawnmowers tend to cost more than their petrol or diesel equivalents, and will only last between 15 and 45 minutes before they must be recharged. Gardeners also complain that battery-powered models are less effective on longer or thicker grass…. Induction hobs are also more expensive than their gas alternatives and require specific cookware that will work with the technology. Some chefs say induction or electric hobs are unable to produce the same effect as gas burners because they lack a flame and do not reach as high temperatures.”
But no sacrifice in your lifestyle. At least none you’ll mind. Or none you should mind. Apart from giving up meat and farming and flying and cooking and gardening and that rubbish. For alas:
“The number of cattle and sheep in the UK needs to drop 27 per cent by 2040 in order to free up land for tree planting and peatland to cut methane emissions, the CCC said. A reduction in meat and dairy consumption would also be needed to ensure that imports did not increase and add to the UK’s global carbon footprint. The committee said consumption would need to drop 11 per cent by 2030 and 35 per cent by 2050, with a bigger drop in the consumption of beef in particular.”
Trusssst us. Including when we yank granny from her car and put her on a bike, which is healthier anyway, to go buy her subsidized fake kebab (“Boosting the alternative proteins sector, such as via investment in cultured meat production, would be another option”), as the CCC said just banning gas and diesel car sales was insufficient to its glorious vision:
“It said 7 per cent of car journeys should be made instead by public transport, walking or cycling by 2035.”
Oh, and we all have to drive at the posted speed limit not the reasonable speed we actually do drive. And get maiden-aunted even in private, since:
“As of last year, all new cars on sale have to be fitted with speed limiters, which issue warnings to drivers when they go too fast.”
O Brave New World, that hath such naggers in it. And vast subsidies for the new and more efficient ways of living. And exceptions for the political class. And the unbounded joy of coercing the peasants.
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