Image Source: Official image courtesy of MGM
With politicians at home and abroad seeming to be shifting their ground on global warming and net zero, it’s a confusing landscape for the layman and woman to interpret. Indeed, it’s become almost impossible to know what to believe and whose advice to follow. But what does Arnold Schwarzenegger, a.k.a. The Terminator, Hollywood legend, and one-time Governor of California – a state with the 4th largest economy in the world* advise. Can his opinion influence global Government actions? More importantly, might they influence yours?
*Amazingly, whilst California is only one state in America, the size of its economy is bigger than that of Japan and only surpassed by the USA, China and Germany.
What Has the UK Committed To?
Since 2019 when the Climate Act was passed by Parliament, the UK has been legally committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions down to net zero (so producing no more than it absorbs or removes from the atmosphere) by 2050. Even six years ago that seemed quite a big ‘ask’ – but, by committing to replace the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels with renewable and green technologies, experts thought we had a chance. The key word of course in that last sentence is ‘committing’. Furthermore we were doing so before the onset of the war in Ukraine led to a turmoil in the global energy market.
We Are Now Being Governed by Naysayers
As the saying goes, however. ‘a week is a long time in Government and the problem is that since the climate act was enshrined in law we’ve had some 250 of them. So, how committed are we now? Whilst leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, campaigned on a platform of clean-tech and net zero during the run-up to the election, and the party line is no further drilling in the North Sea, winter fuel payments (or lack of) and other pressures make a U-Turn quite probable. Industry experts predict new drilling could go ahead before the end of the year.
Elsewhere ‘wannabe premier’ Nigel Farage has said net zero is nonsense, having been a longtime denier of global warming. Meanwhile Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch is claiming that achieving net zero by 2050 is impossible.
Meanwhile Across the Atlantic…
Donald Trump is another denier of global warming, which he calls ‘an expensive hoax’, and has no interest in any policy to do with net zero. His approach when it comes to energy is ‘drill baby, drill’. He has withdrawn the US from the Paris Agreement and has rolled-back what he sees to be barriers to developing America's potential self-sufficiency in energy production.
Q: What Does Arnie Say?
A: Stop Whining!
Whilst it might be easy for the policies of Messrs Farage, Trump and Badenoch to be so negative as to create inaction and inertia, Arnie has always been an all-action hero. At a recent climate conference in Europe he told delegates to ‘stop whining’ about Governments and legislation and take their own action. His view is clearly and simply that if we, as individuals, feel we are suffering the impacts of Global Warming, it is down to our individual conscience to do something about it. So the two questions arising become ‘what do you think?’ and ‘will you take action?’
How You Can Reduce Your Own Carbon Footprint (and Your Energy Bills)
We work in two ways to help our customers work their way towards net zero. The first is by supplying Infra-Red heaters in many designs and guises that eliminate the requirement for gas heating. In addition we offer the facility to combine this with solar panels. Either will save you money on your energy bills. Both together even more so.