The Real Cost of Green Energy

Cardew

The thoughts of Lord Lawson

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2002333/Nigel-Lawson-says-Coalitions-absurd-energy-policy-damaging-industry-adding-hundreds-pounds-familys-fuel-bills.html

A fatuous obsession: The Coalition's absurd energy policy is damaging industry and adding hundreds of pounds to every family's fuel bills

What is doubly unacceptable, however, is that the public is being made to pay for this by stealth. This is why, in the cause of proper transparency, our electricity suppliers should be made to reveal in our utility bills the extent of this hidden tax element, which is costing families an average of £200 more a year.

This policy, incidentally, will also greatly exacerbate the problem of ‘fuel poverty’ (officially defined as the number of people who are obliged to spend more than 10 per cent of their household income on fuel), as the charity Age UK has pointed out.

keith_r59

Lord Lawson is a well known climate change sceptic so it is not surprising he has said what he has said and I wouldn't believe everything you read in the papers especially if it's the Daily Mail.

Cardew

I certainly agree about the Daily Mail with regard to accuracy! However on a Saturday they do have the best TV guide for the week ahead, so I make an exception and buy on a Sat!

I also agree the Nigel Lawson has an agenda about [STRIKE]global warming [/STRIKE]sorry climate change( that term covers getting warmer or colder;))

However his point about the poorest in our society paying for Green Energy surely cannot be challenged?????

Before solar panel owners go into 'defence mode' - there obviously can be no criticism for them taking advantage of the situation.

keith_r59

Cardew wrote: »

However his point about the poorest in our society paying for Green Energy surely cannot be challenged?????

I think the point is that everyone is paying for Green Energy, not just the poorest, but I do agree that with any flat rate tax the poorest will always pay a higher percentage of their income.

zeupater

Hi

I object m'Lord ....... I object to both the current price of panels and the profits which are made by the industry & also the naivity of government who are being led down this winding path by those who preach an idealistic and blinkered viewpoint without employing logic and reason .....

HTH
Z

hcb42

I don't get the Daily Mail at all...I've got no idea what agenda they are on...but this was dreadful reporting, more so than normal

celerity

It would be fairly easy to write a rebuttal argument called "The real cost of traditional energy" of course...

The Daily Mail online always cracks me up - order the user comments for that article by "best rated" and then "worst rated", that's always worth a giggle, as it is so predictable what you will see.

I particularly like the picture of the energy monitor in the article too - the implication being that they are a terrible, evil idea (How dare energy companies subsidise a gadget that helps people manage their energy usage!)

/\dam

Cardew

I think we all agree that the Daily Mail has gone downmarket(and they started from a low leve!!).

Now about the parts of Lord Lawson's article dealing with the costs of Green energy and who pays???????

celerity

We all pay. I seriously doubt many of us will change their view about this based on that article though. The people that are down on the costs of Green Energy will still oppose the perceived costs, and those of us in favour will argue that we just have to suck it up for the long term benefits.

An added issue is that Lawson doesn't accept Climate Change is anything to worry about, so can argue that we should invest in Shale Gas. To many of us, this doesn't help the problem, but it all depends on where you stand re: global warming.

I still say it is unfair to single out the costs of Green Energy whilst ignoring both financial and environmental costs of fossil fuels though. i.e. Our taxes are used to subsidise other energy industries, which needs to be made clear when debating subsidies for Green Energy.

/\dam (I apologise for linking to the Guardian, but you did link to the Daily Mail! )

MikeyMacbeth

celerity wrote: »

The Daily Mail online always cracks me up - order the user comments for that article by "best rated" and then "worst rated", that's always worth a giggle, as it is so predictable what you will see.
/\dam

You're right about that trick! hadn't tried that one before although maybe it's a case of "I laugh because I dare not cry"... "Climate Change clap-trap"... clearly a long way to go yet before sanity or reason infects this little old rock ball of ours...