The United Kingdom, we learned on Saturday, has not been properly planning when it comes to its energy policy. To appease the climate scolds, formerly Great Britain has gone all-in for renewables to "de-carbonize" their electrical grid. They back up their windmills and solar panels with Norwegian natural gas, as they have eliminated most of their domestic production. And now - tell me you didn't see this coming - Norway, seeing domestic prices rise, is thinking of closing the tap.

Norway’s government, whose coalition ended this week, is not the first to collapse over bad energy policies linked to mad climate politics. That title incontestably goes to Northern Ireland in 2017, where poor implementation of the UK’s renewable heat scheme led to widespread suspected fraud (heating empty sheds to claim subsidies) and the end of the power sharing agreement between Sinn Fein and the DUP. It may, however, be even more consequential for the UK.

The politics of the collapse are quite dull, but echo growing global alarm over high prices linked to the high cost of a low-carbon transition.

The Telegraph, from whence this comes, is pretty friendly to the climate scolds and the whole climate change hooraw, so it's remarkable to see them admit that high prices are linked to a "low carbon transition." The law of supply and demand is a harsh mistress, and replacing high-energy-density sources like gas and oil with low-energy-density sources like wind and solar is inevitably going to make energy cost more. And, if the American 2024 election is any indication, voters don't like it when things cost more. 

Here's what happened next:

The populist Eurosceptic Centre Party (and others on the Right) object to Norwegians paying more for their domestic power due to demand for their hydropower reserves abroad. They particularly object to EU Directives that would undermine their domestic sovereignty to withhold those reserves for their own use, or to shield them from an energy crisis. They take issue with the poor energy decisions made by their neighbours (especially Germany) which have inflamed the problem. This leaves the pro-green, pro-EU Norwegian Labour party solely in charge, but with no working majority and a general election no later than September, which on current polls is likely to favour a nationalist populist coalition.

So nothing will happen until the elections in September. That may make Brits feel a little better through the summer. But the UK, we should note, has cut off much of its own supply in pursuit of "decarbonizing."

The problem for the UK is this: our Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband has committed us to a target of decarbonising the power grid by 2030. It’s highly doubtful nuclear can be built that quickly, so this will rest largely on renewable power, meaning mostly offshore wind and a lot of pylons. He has done so while continuing the Tory ban on domestic fracking, extending it to new North Sea projects, and removing legal protections for those with prior approvals like Rosebank.

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But Norway is, according to the Daily Sceptic's Will Jones, threatening to cut off Britain's supply of Norwegian natural gas.

As Norway threatens to cut off the UK from electricity at times of low wind speeds, it’s a sign of a growing energy nationalism globally that leaves Labour’s short-sighted Net Zero plans in tatters, says Andy Mayer in the Telegraph.

The link, incidentally, leads back to the article cited above.

Now, this is a big, complex issue, and a lot to absorb, but the thumbnail is this: Rising nationalism in Europe is driven in part by frustration over rising energy costs (as well as things like unchecked immigration) and those rising energy costs are in large part due to net-zero schemes to appease climate activists. Britain has gone all-in for renewables, but the renewables aren't consistent, and when the wind isn't blowing, the United Kingdom has been relying on the expensive proposition of starting up natural-gas-powered electrical plants - using Norwegian natural gas. Their backup, incidentally, is gas imported from the United States, and President Trump is planning to ramp up production, but he's also likely to meet American consumer and industrial needs over exports. Interestingly, in the article linked above, "The Telegraph," an outlet not terribly friendly to President Trump, has actually given him credit for doing what's right by America first.

However, the Trump agenda reasonably prioritises the needs of US manufacturing for cheap fracked gas over British pensioners.

So, if you'll return your seatbacks and tray tables to the upright and locked position, I'll bring all this in: The United Kingdom is in trouble; their energy supplies are insufficient for their needs, and the policies that put them in this position are the same policies that the climate scolds want to implement here.

Norway and the United Kingdom can serve as a great object lesson here.