No, the Iran War Doesn’t Prove Ed Miliband Right

Alongside the claim that you should love mosquitos and wasps, the Guardian’s Environment Correspondents opinion section carries three attempts to turn the Iran crisis into an opportunity for the UK’s green agenda. Environmentalism is, I have long claimed, an opportunistic infection: its adherents are unable to make a case for a perfect world on its own terms, and so their argument for a radical and urgent reorganisation of society, requiring the suspension of normal politics, must capitalise on a sense of crisis to advance their agenda. And so it is that the Grauniad’s eco-hacks rush to Ed Miliband’s rescue with some tall tales.

I do not, and never will love mosquitos and wasps. I’ve never been troubled by a vulture, except figuratively: those who prey on others’ emotions by provoking alarm and fear. I’m no fonder of figurative mosquitos, either: those who suck the lifeblood of others, to enrich themselves. And wasps, too: the aggressive harassment sucking the joy out of alfresco eating and drinking. To the extent that these figurative and non-figurative things are ‘nature’, they make my point that there’s nothing in nature to offer us a model for the organisation of society. The wretched feeding off corpses and living bodies and the swarming violence – and the rigid social hierarchies of ant colonies, for that matter – suggest to me that ‘love’ for ‘nature’ of this kind is an absurdity. ‘Nature’ cannot reciprocate your ‘love’, but it will infect your infants with a deadly plasmodium.


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transmissionofflame
21 days ago

“Households still need more help” (Mathew Lawrence, third Guardian quote from the left).

Translated, this means raise taxes (they never mean allocating money already being spent onto something else).

Arum
Arum
21 days ago

Alternatively, it means increased borrowing. They might be happy about this as it edges us closer to the collapse of the current financial system.

transmissionofflame
21 days ago
Reply to  Arum

Ah yes indeed, borrowing – a tax on this and future generations.

RTSC
RTSC
21 days ago

What they means is “rob undeserving Peter, to pay deserving Paul.”

They decide who doesn’t and who does “deserve.”

transmissionofflame
21 days ago
Reply to  RTSC

Always all just an excuse for wealth transfer to build up a base of needy people who will vote for you and give you power, kudos and ££££s

Lockdown Sceptic
21 days ago

Net Zero Won’t Solve One Problem 

spud
spud
21 days ago

Quite right but it don’t half create some.

Ardandearg
Ardandearg
21 days ago

“There are worms in the belly as well as primroses in the wood.” C S Lewis

varmint
21 days ago

Whenever the Iran situation started I could see that it would immediately become camouflage for the eco socialist agenda. The same thing happened with Ukraine.
But ever since the Climate Change Act (Miliband 2008) prices of electricity have risen year on year so we now have the highest prices in the whole world, and it is the same for every country that uses a lot of renewables. Germany eg with about 40,000 turbines is also destroying its industry and forcing millions into energy poverty just as we are.
When you remove affordable reliable energy (fossil fuels) and replace them with all this FREE wind and sun then the result is economic disaster, and that was happening before Iran and will continue after Iran, because it is POLICY. —NET ZERO is enshrined in law, and we have forced ourselves to put reducing CO2 emissions FIRST and the people LAST.

varmint
21 days ago

“Green power is in effect an insurance policy against geopolitical risk”——This is an afterthought EXCUSE for a failed agenda that is destroying our industries and forcing millions into energy poverty. Because we would be indulging in this economic suicide whether there was a crisis in Iran or not. Because the original excuse—CLIMATE CHANGE was the main reason for the eco socilaist NET ZERO that was waved through Parliament in 2019 with no cost/benefit discussion and NO VOTE.

It will mainly boost oil company profits”—–is another bogus excuse. What is wrong with “profit”? Does Renewable Energy not seek to make profit? Ofcourse it does. But the difference is that they make their profit from the government destroying the competition with carbon taxes and offsets, and by giving them 100% subsidy for their product as they interfere in the energy market for political purposes. —-Those politics are the UN’s Sustainable Development which states we in the wealthy west consume too much and must make do with less of everything and that all starts with ENERGY.

DiscoveredJoys
DiscoveredJoys
21 days ago

I for one welcome the lessons from the Iran war. We will be able to see how reduced volumes of oil and gas affect us. Yes, we might have to drive more slowly, and the Government are urging people not to ‘over order’ medications for fear of exacerbating shortages. Food will become more expensive as the cost of fertilisers and farming increase. More people may be obliged to work from home whether they want to or not. The Government will lose revenue from fuel sales, not that that bothers them.

The world of sufficient renewables (backed by nuclear power) is decades away. and we will still need some fossil fuels for chemical feedstocks. Hair shirts and ashes right now are not required.

JXB
JXB
21 days ago
Reply to  DiscoveredJoys

Presumably you were not alive – or bad memory? – during all the other energy crises, the two Arab/Israeli wars of the late 60s/early 70s, UK miners’ strikes of the 70s, Iraq-Iran war, the First Gulf War, Second Gulf war, various other tensions in the Middle East?

DiscoveredJoys
DiscoveredJoys
21 days ago
Reply to  JXB

I was alive and remember them well, but there are plenty of bright young things that need a fresh example.

Tonka Fairy
21 days ago

This constant “wind is cheaper! Wind is cheaper” howl is disproved simply by looking at the Comtracts for Difference strike prices. Does Moonbat and his ilk not know this, or do they just dishonesty ignore it?

JXB
JXB
21 days ago
Reply to  Tonka Fairy

My money is on dishonest. The games up. They know it, but can’t admit it as it shows them up for the ignorant fools they are.

Gezza England
Gezza England
21 days ago
Reply to  Tonka Fairy

I think they are just too stupid to understand them. Never discount the retarded moron factor when dealing with the Far Left.

JXB
JXB
21 days ago

Grid frequency (UK & Europe) MUST be 50Hz and must not vary by more then less than +/- 1Hz – even for a few seconds, or the grid shuts down and takes time – days – to restart. This frequency is set by spinning generators (steam/gas turbines) operating at 3 000rpm, ie 50rps. Changes in demand, faults at power stations or grid equipment, station drop out, current surges due to electric storms, HT wires touching due to high winds, cause frequency variation. Spinning generators resist this through mechanical inertia, and maintain frequency as the generators have governors to keep them spinning at 3 000rpm. Wind/solar/batteries cannot set or maintain grid frequency. Without fossil fuel – gas is best – spinning generators on the grid providing 60% at least input to maintain frequency and provide power when wind/solar drop out, there can be no grid. Wind/solar cannot provide base load, coal is best for this. It doesn’t matter how many windmills, sunbeam catchers, batteries are installed, 60% of grid power at all times will have to come from spinning generation, therefore fossil fuels. Additionally there must be an equivalent capacity of spinning generators to installed wind/solar, for those times when they… Read more »

JohnK
21 days ago
Reply to  JXB

It’s true that traditionally it was easier to manage grid frequency with things like 500 MW alternators, and varying the voltage in a few steps etc, but the latest technique appears to be “Grid Forming”. Here is a NESO site on the topic: https://www.neso.energy/energy-101/electricity-explained/how-do-we-balance-grid/what-grid-forming

Gezza England
Gezza England
21 days ago
Reply to  JohnK

Except that there is no indication from NESO that this unicorn technology is actually in use and anything that says we are the first to do something should ring deafening alarm bells given our recent history of f*cking everything up.

Gezza England
Gezza England
21 days ago
Reply to  JXB

Nobody actually knows how long it would take to restart out grid should it go black. Days might be very optimistic.

Gezza England
Gezza England
21 days ago

The Guardian – written by morons, for morons.

Simon MacPhisto
Simon MacPhisto
20 days ago

This needs publishing in the telegraph and the speccy as a minimum.