A major new campaign on fossil fuels, including lifting the ban on fracking and expanding drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea, has already been announced by the new prime minister’s government. But the push for more oil and gas production was “totally at odds” with the UK’s legally binding zero target, said Sir David King, head of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group, which was chief scientific adviser of the government between 2000 and 2007. . Liz Truss and her new energy secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg (Getty) In addition, it would bring large amounts of greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels onto the market, just ahead of the 2050 deadline to reach zero, he told the Independent. He said the plans, announced last week by the prime minister’s new energy secretary, Jacob-Rees Mogg, were “extremely worrying”. “We’re looking at a situation where the crisis is with us here today,” he said. “But we don’t recognize that when we say ‘let’s go ahead and start new fracking operations in this country.’ “It takes conviction. What it seems to show is that the government leadership does not understand the nature of the climate crisis.” Sir David King is the government’s former chief scientific adviser (AFP/Getty) Mr Rees-Mogg, who has previously dismissed climate science as “alarmism”, said in a video on his second day in office that “we are lifting the moratorium on fracking. We will extract every ounce of oil and gas from the North Sea.” During Ms Truss’s leadership campaign, she derided the increasing role renewable energy is playing in the energy system, particularly solar power, which has become the “cheapest electricity in history”, according to the International Energy Agency ( IEA). But Sir David, who is the founder and chairman of the Center for Climate Repair in Cambridge, warned that the government’s fossil fuel revival could quickly fail. Activists from the Exhaustion Rebellion stage an anti-fracking protest outside the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (PA file) He said: “I fully agree with what the IEA is saying, which is ‘don’t invest in new oil and gas recovery’. “If we do invest in new oil and gas recovery, it will take at least five years to get to market and more like 10-15 years, which is the average. “In this case, they are not dealing with the current crisis at all, but investing in a business that is likely to become a stranded asset. “Frankly, it’s a policy that hasn’t been thought through in terms of climate change or in terms of the current climate crisis. He doesn’t even attack [issue].” Ms Truss wants to expand drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea (PA) His assessment of the government’s position has been echoed by leading campaign groups. Doug Parr, Greenpeace’s UK policy director, told the Independent: “Sir David King is telling the truth. Most sensible countries realize that the economically rational course is to drive rapidly to zero emissions because it boosts the entire economy and tackles the climate and cost-of-living crisis in one fell swoop. “Truss’s current energy plans will do nothing for the economy any time soon and will in fact create significant stranded asset risks. “Furthermore, they are accelerating climate collapse, contributing to the deadly heatwaves and floods we’re seeing around the world, and that’s to say nothing of rising energy costs that will leave household and national overdrafts in trouble for years to come. “If Truss and Rees-Mogg continue on this path, it begs the question – whose interests are they serving?” (PA Graphics) Sir David suggested the country’s leadership was using Russia’s war in Ukraine as an opportunity to expand its use of fossil fuels – despite failing to tackle either the climate crisis or the energy crisis. He said: “The direct consequence of the Russia-Ukraine war is that energy prices have skyrocketed. The answer to that [should be] to build more renewables – we can use an extension of an already successful operation. “The opposite is to say ‘let’s use this as an opportunity to develop our oil and gas reserves’ – using war as an opportunity to do that, knowing that it has nothing to do with managing the short-term problems of war. “All this shows enormous cynicism at the top of the government. What they are saying is “we won’t be in government in 2050, but we don’t believe in net zero”. Friends of Earth policy chief Mike Childs told the Independent that Sir David was “right to sound the alarm about the government’s enthusiasm for fracking and drilling for more gas and oil”. He said: “At best, it is hard to see how this enthusiasm for new fossil fuels is compatible with the Prime Minister’s commitment to meeting the UK’s climate targets. “At worst, it’s a sign that the new administration is more interested in appeasing wealthy fossil fuel lobbyists than addressing the growing climate emergency and dealing with the energy crisis once and for all.” Energy experts have repeatedly called the government expand support for renewable energy technology and storage, implement a national insulation program, invest in the development of more heat pumps, and stop investment in fossil fuel programs. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment.
