New investments in the North Sea will be rewarded with a tax relief (Jane Barlow/PA)
(Picture: PA Archive)Groupthink says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shows we rely too much on fossil fuels. This is only partially right. A more accurate assessment would be that while still relying on fossil fuels, Western policymakers have failed for years to acknowledge the reality of energy transition: we still need them. Egged on by lobbyists and ‘the science’, politicians thought they could wave around emission targets like some magic wands that would fix everything and achieve net zero with a sprinkling of supply-and-demand economic fairy dust.
Ukraine underscores the importance of energy security, rather than net-zero. I’m not a fossil fuel nut, but I understand the difference of having supply and not having supply. Any fool knows that, only not our fools in Westminster, or Washington or Brussels. Not only does a lack of supply lead to insecurity – see Germany’s reliance on Russia - but also makes the poorest people poorer, since energy demand is relatively inelastic.
