This Letter to the Editor, written by CO2 Coalition Member Euan Mearns, was published in The Press and Journal, October 18, 2023:

Sir, On 4^th October, the P&J carried an interesting editorial authored by Andrew Bowie MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine. He claimed that the Prime Minister was just starting a net-zero debate. That is 15 years after the net zero process began and billions upon billions of pounds have been spent on parasitic renewable infrastructure.

Net zero energy policy in the UK is grounded in the 2008 Climate Change Act introduced by Ed Miliband while Gordon Brown was Prime Minister. When Tories cite the legally binding commitment to cut emissions it is this Labour legislation that they refer to. They have been in power since 2010, recently with a massive majority, and could have repealed this insidious Act at any time and hence change the law and remove that legal burden. They have chosen not to do so. The source of this obligation in Holyrood is less clear since energy policy is not a devolved power.

Instead, the government introduced a White Paper in October 2021 titled “Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener”. The paper has an introduction by Boris Johnson and is presented by Kwasi Kwarteng who was then Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The report is about 300 pages long and is a smorgasbord of policies discussed on Green-energy blogs since around 2005. The report is embellished with images of fields covered in solar panels that somehow our politicians think is green. The level of cognitive dissonance is staggering.

The report contains details of spending plans with two categories 1) Public and Private Investment, and 2) Public Investment (i.e., government money). We have to assume that the latter makes up part of the former. The Public and Private investment adds up to a staggering £785 billion where about £10 billion is public support. Politicians may salivate at all the jobs and prosperity this is supposed to bring. But please consider the following points very closely. The whole of this £785 billion will eventually be paid for by us.

Two cornerstones of the plan are carbon capture and storage (CCS) and the hydrogen “economy”. Both of those strategies consume vast amounts of energy and other natural resources like water, steel, concrete and copper. The public who pays for this receive absolutely nothing in return. Vast amounts of our money simply goes-up in smoke while developers of course skim their share.

Another example is transport policy where billions are to be spent on promoting cycling and walking.

“£2 billion investment which will help enable half of journeys in towns and cities to be cycled or walked”

As pensioners, are we really expected to fork out millions to pay for the privilege of cycling through the driving sleet to do our shopping? I am also left wondering if this is the origin of the £12 million facelift for that Beach Boulevard roundabout?

Of course, there is money for electric cars, well beyond the pocket of most citizens and also the cause of horrific pollution and slavery in cobalt mining operations in The Democratic Republic of Congo. And money for heat pumps, way beyond the pocket of everyone bar the super wealthy, energy efficient – yes. Effective in Scotland – no.

Mr. Bowie says the PM wants to begin a debate. He and his colleagues should then get in touch since I am currently engaged in a monologue with the politicians responsible for this debacle. It is not possible to ground a prosperous economy on building pyramids and the mass production of white elephants.

Dr Euan Mearns

Aberdeen