Kyoto Nonsense...

Two interesting reports on Kyoto - this one from the House of Lords, and one recently by the Energy Committe of the House of Commons in Canada. Both agree that no one has accurately estimated the costs of Kyoto.

THE MOST valuable present that Tony Blair could make to his fellow-summiteers at Gleneagles would be the rigorous and persuasive report on the economics of climate change published today by the Economic Affairs Committee of the House of Lords. He is unlikely to do so, for two main reasons. The first is that the report unanswerably demonstrates not only that in terms of averting or even delaying global warming, the Kyoto Protocol is about as futile as sending seven maids with seven mops to rid a beach of sand, but that “more of the same”, a “Kyoto-plus” treaty that sets tougher emissions targets, would fail too, because the whole approach it embodies is fatally flawed.

The second reason would be embarrassment. In compelling detail, the report shows that, rather than setting an admirable example of innovation and effectiveness, Britain’s own climate change strategy is a shambles based on “dubious” assumptions, vague, “wildly optimistic” estimates of costs — and a politically correct approach so dominated “by certain renewable technology interests” that the “big” future technologies, such as hydrogen power, are being neglected in favour of an obsession with wind power.

The Government has not the foggiest notion what Britain’s self-imposed and hugely ambitious target of cutting C0² emissions to 60 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050 will cost. The estimates range from anywhere between £60 and £400 billion in today’s money — and the lower figure assumes, totally implausibly, that costs up to 2020 will be negligible because the emissions targets can be met merely through more efficient use of energy.

The same is true for Canada....the Government has yet to tell us how much adhering to Kyoto will cost.