A✌️400-word✌️2-minute✌️read
The headline might suggest that political polarization will help foster progress toward net-zero.
It doesn’t
I’ve often cited the UK as a model for addressing climate change. The country closed its last coal-burning power plant, has more effectively deployed an EV-charging infrastructure, and successfully implemented congested pricing in London.
That’s why reading that the UK’s two main right-of-center political parties want to abandon Britain’s two-decade old climate legislation, was more than a little disappointing.
That law set a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Although - like most every country on the planet - the UK isn’t likely to achieve that goal, unlike most nations, it has a puncher’s chance of achieving its goal of 95% clean electricity by 2030. It has already achieved periods when 100% of its electricity came from clean sources.
Like the Trump administration, the Reform UK Party and the Conservatives have both voiced a desire to cancel clean energy contracts, and have disputed the belief by climate scientists that human activity has accelerated climate change.
Worse yet, these political parties are not reacting to public sentiment. Polls show that most Brits remain in favor of renewables and other clean energy measures.
I recall reading all the wishful thinking articles published after President Trump won a second term. The mantra was - this will not stop progress, and the states will pick up the slack. To some extent states are attempting to backfill the loss of federal support, but they will find it increasingly difficult to do so.
Climate advocates also greatly underestimated the Trump administration’s ability to expand its views beyond our borders. Economic pressures have many nations rethinking some policies, and Trump’s success has emboldened other right-of-center political parties throughout the world.
Here’s the moral of the story: the number one priority for the climate movement is to de-politicize climate change.
It won’t be easy, and it won’t happen overnight. However, if advocates don’t manage to correct its egregious strategy and messaging errors, it will become next to impossible to achieve any of its goals.
Even if the political pendulum shifts back – as it invariably does – countless years will be wasted. And as the pendulum swings yet again, the world will be caught in a cycle of dismantle and remantle. (Yes, according to the Urban Dictionary remantle is a word. 😊)
Such a cycle won’t result in net-zero, but rather net-zero-progress. ☹
#netzero #netzeoenergy #climatechange #britishpolitics #trumpadministration