Renewable energy too (politically) expensive
Leaked documents reveal that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been advised to step back from previous commitments to generate 20% of all Europe’s energy from renewable sources.
Government minister John Hutton advises that such energy generation schemes will be prohibitively expensive and face “severe practical difficulties”.
Britain initially backed European renewable energy plans as ex PM Tony Blair sought to build a “green legacy” during his final months in office. Current advice suggests that Brown distance himself from such schemes and seeks alignment with East European countries, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, which are sceptical about the economics of EU climate change policy.
However, the political cost of economically sensible moves is a concern, with Mr Hutton noting that Britain could suffer “a potentially significant cost in terms of reduced climate change leadership”.
It is a sobering thought that decisions of such magnitude ultimately boil down to political capital rather than economic reality. What will decide our future is not science, or economics, but opinion polls.
