Why the EU’s climate alarmism is both mistaken and dangerous
Roger Helmer MEP
In Cool Thinking on Climate Change Roger Helmer, backed up by substantial evidence, shows that the EU’s climate alarmism is both mistaken and dangerous.
Evidence is quite clearly emerging that man is not having the impact on the climate that the EU climate alarmists claim. They have failed to note that throughout Earth’s history temperatures have exceeded today’s levels. There have been warm periods followed by cyclical cooling, as there will be again.
Ignoring the doubts, the European Commission proposes to forge ahead with eyewateringly expensive initiatives designed to mitigate climate change. Key elements of this package include the extension of the Emissions Trading System (known internationally as “Cap’n’Trade”); the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM, an international extension of ETS); a framework for carbon capture and storage (which is not yet operational on an industrial scale); strict renewables targets; and a directive on CO2 emissions from cars.
The estimated cost of these programmes is €73 billion a year across the EU by 2020. In the UK, it will cost £9 billion a year by 2020. It is expected to force a million more households into fuel poverty. These policies are likely to raise average domestic fuel bills by up to £200 a year, while the total economic cost would average around £600 per family.
So why is the EU pursuing the climate issue with such vigour? Partly it is being used to win support from the ‘green’ lobby as part of the EU’s civil society initiatives to try and gain legitimacy via its favoured NGOs rather than through democratic means such as referenda.
Climate alarmism is also an excuse for yet more power-grabs. The whole issue is being used by the EU to take more power, not only over the environment and energy, but also over other areas ranging from immigration to foreign policy.
The simple truth is that the back-bone of Britain’s energy policy needs to be coal and nuclear energy, not the fantasy of renewable energy as pushed for by the European Union. Otherwise Britain will face an energy crisis with the very real prospect of the lights going out.
Click here to read the full publication online
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