Voters are paying the price for politicians’ myopic energy planning
SIR – Simon Heffer’s article (Comment, September 19) was an excellent indictment of how our politicians have pursued green policies to the detriment of our future prosperity.
The burgeoning gas and electricity crises have exposed Britain’s reliance on overseas power supplies, and its failure to exploit its own natural resources. Any reasonable person might have foreseen how Vladimir Putin would take advantage of the current circumstances, just as the drawbacks of wind and solar power were obvious to everyone – except, it appears, those responsible for energy policy.
To close down existing means of power generation in Britain before securing an effective replacement was an act of gross irresponsibility. It is also an acknowledged fact that, however much we reduce our own emissions, it will have no effect on global warming unless the whole world follows suit. The Cop26 summit in Glasgow is unlikely to change this situation. The Government’s determination to prove its green credentials has become obsessive, and the tax-paying public is only just becoming aware of the cost.
Mick Richards
Worcester
SIR – It is hard to overstate the naivety of our Government, or the inadequacy of the advice it must have received from the “experts” in the Civil Service. From the closure of gas storage facilities to the incoherent nuclear plan and the bizarre policy of burning imported wood in a converted coal power station, our politicians appear to be simply incompetent.
Britain has plentiful gas supplies under the ground, but woke pressure over fracking has prevailed. It is equally ridiculous that we are importing coal for our steel industry, ignoring our own ample resources.
Keith Elkington
Wimborne, Dorset
SIR – Even those with the greenest of green beliefs must recognise that our society is utterly dependent on reliable energy supplies. It defies all logic that Britain has invested so much time and money in the erratic resources of wind and solar power.
We are an island nation with one of the largest tidal ranges in the world. This potential source of completely predictable, clean energy remains largely untapped, and there’s little evidence that the Government plans to make better use of it. Why?
Thomas Le Cocq
Batcombe, Somerset
SIR – I find it extraordinary that this country has no policy for the installation of both hot water and photovoltaic panels on new builds.
I installed hot water panels over 20 years ago, reducing my gas bill by 25 per cent. Meanwhile, the photovoltaic panels – which face east, with only a small amount of southern exposure – save over two tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year and have easily paid for themselves.
Dr Nigel J Cooke
Leeds, West Yorkshire