The one thing which unites all energy policies is that they are idiotic.
The latest proposals from Nick Clegg are probably the most absurd I’ve heard in a long long time.
They seem designed to give opportunity to rent seekers to extract money from the tax payers. They are an extension of the policies which have led to the debacle of biofuels.
The tone seems deliberately set to appeal to nationalists and xenophobes on the left and the right. It is centralising and flies in the face of any concept of localism.
Our energy situation may be in a mess, but this is because of government interference. Governments have successively messed around, playing to the latest fad (be it centralisation of power generation, state ownership, fighting the unions or nuclear power), doing more of this will only further exacerbate the problems we face. It is a governmental failure we are dealing with, we must remove government from the equation and let things sort themselves out.
It is true that there are many renewable and alternative energy sources which show great promise, lets not kill them with government meddling.
Its doubtful we’d be in the situation we are in with regards to Russia if it were not for government action. We certainly would not have the current system of nuclear power, although its possible that we may have other forms which have lower risks.
Can someone please get it into the heads of politicians (especially ostensibly liberal ones) that the solution to things is not for them to issue edicts or new ‘four year plans’ and that usually something doesn’t need to be done, but rather stopping doing something is better.
