LyrArc Article Gist
A tale of two cities Oslo and London only 700 miles apart in direct flight but far far distant in their oil and energy policies. Instead of a transition period and working in coordination with China on climate change to take policies that Britain cannot use new oil resources to replace old ones and continue to invest, Britain finds itself constrained for every decision in the budget. Even an item like bus fares capped at 2 pounds in England becomes unaffordable. China is a developed modernized nation and because of its size and population and its use of coal plants decides how much climate change happens. Of 63 gigawats added in 2026 from coal plants China takes up 55 gigawatts with 85 new coal plants coming online in China in 2026. UK's situation is severe in this situation and it needed to make the case for oil production while at the same time getting renewable energy on line in a gradual way that recognized that without China it would be simply creating "budget poverty" in Britain. Industrialized nations such as Britain have failed to make a strong case across parties and a unified position on the fossil energy use transition so that Norway could say to hell with climate change and also be lauded for ensuring European oil security and have a $1.25 trillion fund to invest- when the mother of democracies and the industrial revolution, the modern world was left to simmer, its people suffer from "budget poverty" even when it comes to something like bus fares, not to talk about huge investments in infrastructure. This is a huge mistake and has ended up turning China into a modern economy and industrial power while leaving Britain without the money to invest. New oil exploration capex was neglected over 10 years most of them under the Tories, not just Brexit, Tories (and Labour) handed UK a one two three punch- austerity, Brexit and disinvestment in oil exploration, for a poorer Britain. This is a time to change all three.