During a 12-minute video appearance at the 2025 Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) Conference held in London, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told the audience that “Net zero by 2050 “is a sinister goal.”
That is a bold statement, especially given that it was delivered to an audience sitting in the United Kingdom, where both major political parties that have traditionally governed the country – the Conservative “Tories” and the far-left Labour Party – have spent the past decade pushing their country to meet its net zero goals as if it were a matter of religious faith. Regardless of the obvious negative economic and social consequences that have been heaped upon UK citizens, and equally obvious futility of the entire effort, leaders of both parties have kept the country on this ruinous path.
As Wright went on to point out, net zero by 2050 is “both unachievable by any practical means, but the aggressive pursuit of it…has not delivered any benefits, but it’s delivered tremendous costs.” This is objectively true, the most painful example being the rapid deindustrialization of the formerly strong British economy and the accompanying rapacious condemnation of thousands of acres of arable lands to become home to huge wind and solar installations.
As Wright points out, “no one’s going to make an energy-intensive product in the United Kingdom anymore.” A clear object lesson in that reality came in September when venerable steelmaker Tata Steel shut down the last existing steelmaking plant in the UK.
Climate zealots in both major parties celebrated that event, but we must ask what there really is to celebrate? Sure, the Labour politicos get to virtue signal about the elimination of X tons of carbon dioxide emissions, but in a global sense, that’s meaningless. The UK still needs steel – the only difference now is that the steel that used to be made by highly-paid workers in domestic mills will now be imported steel made by poverty waged workers in Pakistan, China and other mainly Asian countries.
Meanwhile, the emissions created by making the steel in those other countries with lower environmental regulations will be far larger than from steel that used to be made in the UK. As Wright pointed out at the ARC conference, “This is not energy transition. This is lunacy.”
He isn’t wrong.
On Feb. 13, the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) published a report showing that construction of new coal-fired power plants in China reached a ten-year high in 2024. CREA finds that “China approved 66.7 gigawatts (GW) of new coal-fired power capacity in 2024, with approvals picking up in the second half after a slower start to the year.” It all belies the favored narrative on the political left that China is leading the world in converting its power systems to renewables. In reality, the expansion of its coal sector may actually be accelerating again.
That renewed Chinese focus on expanding its coal power fleet is driven in large part by the zealous focus by globalist leaders in the UK and other western countries – Germany is another great example – on deindustrializing their own economies to satisfy their obsession over atmospheric plant food.
The making of steel and other heavy industrial processes requires reliable, affordable power generation that runs 24 hours every day, 7 days every week. Whether politicians like it or not, coal is the fuel that most reliably and consistently meets all those tests.
Thus, if China and other Asian nations are destined to inherit all the heavy industries being killed off by virtue signaling Western nations, they will need many more coal power plants to power them. This really isn’t complicated.
Meanwhile, the UK can no longer manufacture its own steel or myriad other industrial products that are essential to modern human existence. If the Labour government continues its policy of condemning vast swaths of British farmland to house more and more wind and solar sites, the kingdom will soon no longer be able to even feed its people.
All to satisfy this odd religious dogma based on an obsession over plant food. Lunacy, indeed.
David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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Europe was decades ahead of us in building windmills and ending their coal fired and nuclear energy plants. Trump warned them as they became dependent on Russian gas and oil for their energy needs and we watched their energy costs implode with the Ukraine war.
The here, Biden and the Democrats passed their 730 billion dollar Green Energy bill in 2022 and they laughably called it the “Inflation Reduction Act”. Last year Biden admitted that it has nothing to do with Inflation but was the largest “Green” spending bill in American history. In it there are no specific or measurable targets. It’s nothing but a Green New Deal slush fund. For example, it includes such insanity as 60 billion dollars for “environmental justice”. I defy anyone to tell me what that is, what it means, or where will those 60 billion dollars be allocated? Or 80 billion dollars for 87,000 new IRS agents. That’s how Democrats create jobs!
Also in that bill, there’s 369 Billion in “incentives for energy and climate-related programs”. That means tax credits, rebates, loans and grants for companies to increase manufacturing for wind turbines, solar panels and batteries. Like the EV bus Company, Proterra, that Biden and Harris promoted. The government sent them tens of million in grants and yet they have already gone bankrupt. But not before “in the know” stockholders like our nation’s energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, made 1.6 million dollars in the stock price run up after all that government money flowed in.
And the ideologues ignore the fact that most of the rare earth minerals for car batteries are mined in China or in Africa by child slave labor. Or that the cobalt and lithium mines are a dangerous environmental hazard. Or that we have no infrastructure for electric cars, so they are pretty much useless outside of big cities, don’t get the advertised range and drain power like a sieve in cold temps or pulling any major size load. And never mind that windmills and solar only have an effective shelf life of about twenty years and there is no environmentally safe way to dispose of them when they expire. I.E., how do you dispose of tens of thousands of 351 ft. indestructible and non-degradable windmill blades. And expired solar panels are considered as hazardous as nuclear waste. Or that almost all of our solar panels come from China and they are laughing at our idiocy and how we will continue to make them rich, while they continue to build a new coal fired energy plant every single week.
Trump will dismantle all of it as the 3/4 Trillion dollar bill is just an inflation driver and he will return us to energy independence. It will take some time but inflation will eventually drop precipitously and I’m thrilled to see what DODGE is doing to eliminate government waste and fraud and hopefully hundreds of thousands of useless taxpayer funded government jobs.
Newsom wants 40 billion in fire aid, Yes, California has become a lost cause financially, it’s due for more severe earthquakes, maybe even another high volcano eruption, buts it’s biggest fault has been poor decisions from the radical democrat party within, an the crazy people who keep putting them in office. Open borders, open drugs, open crime, open lack of fire protection methods. Where are any plans to fend off these potential catastrophic disasters? even prepare for them? they know they are looming yet do noting to protect for their future? Globing warming BS is not going change things mentioned, just like they knew the fire and winds were in the making for death an destruction.Now you have contaminated soil, ocean water effecting the fish for consumption. To much taking taxes that are wasted on nonsense, nothing is being given back to the land or what’s required to keep life ongoing. Changes are needed now in the governing for the future of this State yet don’t see it happening, Industry leaders with brains, people with common sense are leaving. Their much needed tax revenue leave with them.