GWPF reproduces an FT article which suggests that the government is under pressure from engineering companies who want to see the UK's unilateral carbon targets reduced. Apparently senior Conservatives are keen to see the targets killed off, something that could happen if a review by the Committee on Climate Change finds that the UK is moving much quicker towards decarbonisation than the rest of Europe.
Of course, under Lord Deben's stewardship the review is unlikely to come up with the required answer, and the Liberal Democrats represent something of an immovable object on this front too. They are, not to put to fine a point on it, willing to throw granny from the train (or let her freeze to death anyway) in order to keep their green voters.
Meanwhile, environmentalists are trying to spin a line that the review is going to scare off investors.
The Green Alliance, an environmental think-tank, will this week urge the government to cancel the review to reassure nervous investors in the sector.
“Investors had planned to spend £180bn in the UK’s low carbon infrastructure, but they now wonder if their money is wanted here,” said Alastair Harper, spokesman for the Green Alliance. He said many were looking at the review “as the final test of whether the UK government is serious about attracting their investment”.
I have absolutely no idea where this figure of £180bn has come from. Last time I heard, investors wouldn't cough up a penny for the UK energy sector because the government's policy, relying as it does on voters agreeing to be fleeced for decades to come, was so entirely implausible.