Hysteria and hype5 Mar 2024 19:16
It is not necessary to believe in the overriding primacy and urgency of the energy transition or Net Zero to have a sincere and sound commitment to environmental issues and human welfare. The obsessive focus of public debate on one issue, to the exclusion of rational argument about costs and other consequences of such policies, is a disgrace for politicians, advisers and the media. All politics and policymaking is about choices, often complex and contentious. Net Zero and the energy transition are presented as being a necessity that does not involve large costs. The ‘necessity’ part of the argument is patently untrue – we can choose to set a target date for the energy transition of 2040, 2050, 2060 or beyond. That is exactly what China, India and many other countries are doing. The issue of costs is a little more complicated, because the argument relies upon a deliberate confusion between initial or transitional expenditures and average costs in the long run. For the avoidance of doubt, the average cost of using renewable energy is generally higher than reliance on fossil fuels. But even if the average cost of using renewable energy were low, the argument entirely neglects the very large initial capital investments required for the transition. This money must be found from somewhere. The belief that a country can simply incur debt of 100% of GDP to finance the transition ignores economic and financial reality. This is why the term ‘energy transition’ is so important. We have inherited a capital stock and an economy, built over more than a century, that relies upon fossil fuels. To replace that capital stock to use renewable energy instead is a project that involves huge expenditures as well as social and economic dislocation, plus the sacrifice of a portion of our national income.
source - : https://mailchi.mp/cd067d7b8405/former-world-bank-economist-warns-of-energy-transitions-fiscal-risks-201336?e=35cf3821be
Other countries are veering away from the dogma. Maybe an election would enable us to do the same. Both parties seem in thrall to the extremists. In a few months they won't be.
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