Wednesday 22 December 2010

Electricity Market Reform slammed by think tank director

The new energy policies set out by the government may be costly and reckless, says Dr Benny Peiser, director of The Global Warming Policy Foundation.

He told ELN that the obsession with climate change was economically and politically unrealistic: "A lot of the alarmists' claims seem to be extremely dodgy but there is a public backlash against the agenda, particularly on energy prices, because people will have to pay the price for very costly policies."

What appeared to worry Dr Peiser the most was the blanket belief in green policies across all three political parties in Britain. The GWF is a think tank that aims to debate and educate on climate change policy.

Dr Peiser claims he represents the view of the general public: "There's no opposition - all three parties sing from the same hymn sheet. The energy companies are in this for a profit - they don't care which route they go, as long as the government gives them tax payers' money they do what the government tells them to. The only people that count are the British public."

Last week Energy Secretary Chris Huhne announced an electricity market reformguaranteed to increase energy prices. The changes are set to encourage lower carbon technologies, but some critics think the costs will be dramatically higher than those talked about by the Energy Secretary.

"The government will not survive this," said Dr Peiser. He explained to ELN the doubts The Global Warming Policy Foundation had over recent climate change hysteria: "We are mainly agnostic on the whole issue of climate science. We are open to hard science but are certain the science isn't settled yet. The big question no one can answer is just how much of an effect it will have in the long term."

Dr Peiser's view is clear - if the science hasn't been established yet, then the tax payer shouldn't be paying.

Mega What? Watch Benny Peiser answer questions in the ELN hotseat: TV Reports