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What parallel universe does Clegg inhabit?

Speaking after addressing a group of young people in a business start-up centre in central London, Mr Clegg warned that it was wrong-headed of people to think that by scrapping levies it would be a case of “with one bound we are free”.

He told The Daily Telegraph: “Like everyone else I want us to strain every sinew to keep those bills down – but I don’t think anyone should think that by scrapping all the levies that exist suddenly with one bound we are free. We won’t.

“Actually what will happen is that you will have less investment, probably higher bills over time and an increase in fuel poverty. That cannot be the right answer.”

Actually, I know the answer to this. It’s that world in which no one in Europe fracks for shale and thus gas prices go from the current 40 p a therm to 80 p a therm.

All of the DECC numbers depend upon this assumption. However, if fracking does go ahead then gas prices will not double (the Poyry report states this quite clearly).

In the spreadsheet world they have constructed energy bills do become cheaper with greenery. But it all relies upon that not shale. If we do have shale then greenery will not make bills cheaper: greenery will make bills more expensive.

And that is, I’m afraid, the trick they are relying upon.

11 thoughts on “What parallel universe does Clegg inhabit?”

  1. If you are Green you want prices to rise, as that is the only way consumption is going to come down, short of compulsion. You can also then blame the energy companies by branding them as greedy capitalists.

    You keep your loony Green voter base and you fight with Labour for the poor vote who are struggling with fuel bills. Cynical as fuck, yes, but then they are Lib Dems, the Cynical Party.

  2. ““What parallel universe does Clegg inhabit?”
    Likely the same one inhabited by most of the political class. But there’s a chance, progress at the CERN collider & work towards a Grand Unified Theory might provide a method to close the space warp connects it with this one. Hope springs eternal.

  3. But surely the underlying trick is that we have to close down existing coal and gas-fired capacity? Even if you exclude shale, we could still drop the green gravy train and rely on coal and conventional gas. What they’re doing is dicking with the supply and forcing us to buy their preferred energy sources (useless wind and solar) all in the name of saving the planet from a warming that shows no signs of kicking in…

  4. Can we be more honest about this? In Green Taxation, politicians found the goose that lays the golden egg. Taxes the taxpayer will clamour to pay. No politician will kill that goose lightly. They only differ on the method of life support.

  5. Tim said: “In the spreadsheet world they have constructed energy bills do become cheaper with greenery. But it all relies upon that not shale. ”

    And lower demand. Somehow. And us all having (but not driving) electric cars to balance the electricity grid.

    It’s turtles all the way down.

    bloke in spain,

    Green taxes are becoming unpopular, as evidenced by the political parties moving towards making the taxes invisible and energy firms agreeing with it. They all want to move eco-taxes into general taxation.

  6. The entire agenda relating to power generation is not really about “the Environment”. Britain’s actual contribution to any measurable feature is minimal to the point of statistical irrelevance.
    The aim of the game is debilitating the ability to generate electrical power from within one’s own resources. Gas obliges us to import, mostly from Russia via Norwegian pipe-lines, or actual power from French Nuclear Stations via cabling across the Channel. Coal is not an especially filthy fuel, consider South American Orimulsion! But utilising our very own fuel source means we can undercut competition and as Europe is funded on taxation/funding via fuel/ power supply/ taxation. Thus, the destruction of deep-mined coal and coal-fired power generation is solely intended to commit this Country to foreign owned and supplied power – electrical or political.

  7. They are doing pretty well at bringing out this not-shale world, it seems.

    In fact, as Dr. North tells us, the Greens have infiltrated the EU committees where these things are decided, and are accorded equal status there with the national governments and their representatives.

    So they are getting to call the shots at almost the highest level of all, secretly, with no democratic accountability and no possibility of anyone voting them out – because they’re not elected in the first place.

    As a vignette of how we are governed now, it could hardly be improved on.

  8. so if the UK violated the EU protocols and went ahead with fracking, would that mean that the UK would not be allowed to sell the gas to other EU countries – thereby keeping the production for the use of this country?

  9. After more than 10 years of it sitting in the garage doing nothing, I’ve put my 4.5kVA diesel generator back into service (Lister SR2 for those interested). It was very useful 25 years ago when our local distribution network was less than reliable. I may not need it this winter but I’m damn sure I will a winter or two down the road.

  10. tractory man

    a few more years of this and we will all be off-grid with Lister gen-sets…then where do the emission scenarios go?

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