“Net-Zero Tyranny”

Renewable energy had nothing to do with Spain’s catastrophic blackouts, its Prime Minister says, insisting instead that the real culprit was a rare technical failure unrelated to the country’s green energy transition. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez went further and reiterated his government’s opposition to nuclear energy, which he called “far from being a solution.”

Tony Blair is running scared of a populist backlash that he himself stoked.

Not for the first time, Tony Blair is making life difficult for his party by saying something vaguely commonsensical. Ahead of the General Election last year, Blair felt moved to announce that only men have penises, forcing Labour leader Keir Starmer to meekly agree. Now, ahead of the local elections tomorrow, Blair has – in effect – declared many of the Labour government’s climate-change policies to be ‘irrational’. That noise you hear in the distance is Ed Miliband smashing up his ukelele.

Spain’s Socialist prime minister was accused of putting green ideology ahead of energy security after a massive blackout plunged the country into chaos on Monday.

Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the opposition People’s Party, said Pedro Sánchez was covering up information about the cause of the power cut and that the prime minister was prioritising green ideology in his energy policy.

The prime minister is “saddling our energy system with a massive ideological burden”, Mr Feijóo said on Tuesday.

While a comprehensive investigation will take weeks to complete, today’s massive power outages across Spain and Portugal present compelling evidence of the inherent vulnerability in renewable-heavy grids and likely offer a stark lesson in the dangers of sacrificing grid stability on the altar of green energy. While officials scramble to restore power to millions and politicians inevitably deflect blame, the catastrophic failure aligns perfectly with warnings that power grid experts have been sounding for years: systems with high penetrations of solar and wind generation have diminished mechanical inertia and are inherently vulnerable to collapse.

We still do not know the immediate cause of the massive power outage that impacted Spain, Portugal, and parts of southern France on Monday. But this has not impeded wild speculation, dubious explanations, and blame avoidance to deter discussion of the role played by the EU’s ‘Net Zero’ agenda and the cultural mindset that accompanies it.

The cultural mindset that dominates energy policy today reflects a dystopian outlook that views human development—the ‘human footprint’—as the problem rather than the potential solution. We are told that the development of industry and technology must be measured in units of carbon, which should be reduced rather than expanded.

What exactly caused the massive power cuts that swept Spain, Portugal and parts of southern France?

That is the question on the lips of every energy expert in Europe – and theories abound.

Spanish authorities suggested they were investigating the possibility of a cyber attack on grid infrastructure, while some officials in Portugal initially said it was caused by a freak weather phenomenon before backtracking. Both say the exact cause is still unknown.

In 2021, Canada committed itself legally to achieving “net-zero” carbon emissions by 2050. At various times, prime minister Justin Trudeau promised climate action would “create jobs and economic growth,” as well as a “strong economy.” The truth is that net-zero policies generate vast costs for very little benefit — and Canada would be better off changing direction.

A new Leger survey suggests more than half of Canadians do not want Ottawa to outlaw the sale of new gasoline and diesel vehicles in a decade.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) commissioned the poll, which shows 54% oppose the federal zero-emission mandate set to kick in by 2035, while 36% support it, and 10% remain unsure.

So, Ed Miliband has relented, and decided that after all it is not a good idea to build his green energy revolution on the back of slave labour in the Uighur region of China. Miliband had refused to back a Lords amendment to the Great British Energy Bill, first reported by Steerpike, which would have forced the putative government-owned green energy company to address the use of slave labour in its supply chains – Labour MPs were ordered to vote against it. Now the Energy and Climate Change Secretary has produced his own amendment to much the same effect.