It's as I have been saying and writing for years on a wide variety of issues: Watch the United Kingdom, watch Europe, because what their leftist governments do there, the American Left seeks to do here. This is true on a wide range of issues, but nowhere is it more true than in matters of energy and climate.
Most of the nations of Western Europe have bought into the climate-scoldery, as we've documented here many times. The cost of that agenda has been more and more apparent. There are health consequences, with citizens denied air-conditioning in record heat, and there are economic consequences as well, all in the name of Net Zero.
A recent example comes to us from the UK, where the Labour government, in appeasement to the Net Zero agenda, is pushing for the shutdown of North Sea oil operations, and this is coming with a major hit to the U.K.'s treasury. The Telegraph's Energy Editor, Jonathan Leake, has that news. It's going to get worse, too - bigly.
The Treasury faces a multibillion-pound hit from Labour’s North Sea shutdown, BP’s former finance chief has warned.
Brian Gilvary, who sat on the board of BP from 2012 to 2020, said punishing tax rates and a ban on new drilling had prompted many oil and gas operators to halt activity in British waters sooner than expected.
As a result, companies are ripping pipes and platforms out of the sea far earlier than planned. The vast costs of such decommissioning can be claimed back against the tax paid on previous years’ profits, meaning a huge rebate bill for the Treasury.
The latest estimates suggest the rebates, plus foregone tax from North Sea operations, could cost the Treasury around £13bn between now and 2035.
That's about $17.5 billion stateside.
It's not just revenues lost. As the piece linked above points out, the rebates may take an even bigger bite.
Writing in The Telegraph, Mr Gilvary, who is now chairman of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Energy, said: “Forcing fields to close prematurely does not simply switch off future tax receipts; it also brings forward the point at which those decommissioning tax reliefs crystallise, increasing the near-term pressure on the public finances.”
Mr Gilvary said the decline of the UK oil and gas industry under Labour was “eroding long-term national wealth” and damaging “the fiscal capacity to fund public services”.
The "fiscal capacity to fund public services" doubtlessly includes the generous British social welfare system, including their nationalized healthcare system, the National Health Service.
The pressure to shut down is growing regardless, and it's due to the British Left's embracing of Net Zero. The good news is that there has been some pushback, even from within Labour; just how effective that pushback will be remains to be seen.
Last month, Sir Tony Blair urged the Government to “use what is left of our North Sea oil and gas resources” to boost the UK’s competitiveness.
Wes Streeting, a potential leadership challenger, has urged Labour to ramp up oil drilling in the North Sea to boost the economy.
The former health secretary said that while more drilling would not “necessarily” mean cheaper energy bills, it would provide additional tax revenue for the Treasury.
However, Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, has pushed back against the demands, arguing that the move would not “take a penny off bills”.
Here's the thing: As is almost always the case, Ed Miliband is wrong.
Read More: Trump Applauds As New UK PM Backs North Sea Oil Expansion
Britain's Net Zero Policies Now Blocking 100-Plus North Sea Oil, Gas Fields
Here, in the United States, with the resurgence of "drill, baby, drill," we are seeing something of an energy renaissance. Global oil prices and American gasoline, diesel, heating oil and other distillate prices are higher than we'd like, in no small part because of the scrapping with Iran and the uncertainty of what's going on with the Strait of Hormuz, but they are still lower than they were at the end of four years of bad energy policy under Joe Biden. Instead of looking to America as an example, though, the British Labour/Green coalition seems more determined than ever to embrace policies that actually harm the British people. They are committing energy and financial suicide, and the Labour Party's lunatic passion for Net Zero is in large part to blame.
This is hardly surprising. The current majority Labour Party, backed by the Greens, are all down with Net Zero, and they don't appear to give a fig about the health of the British economy or the British people. The American Left, mind you, cares no more about the health of the American economy or the health of the American people than the British Labour and Green parties do.
This is why I watch what's going on in Europe. This is why I watch what the leftist governments of the Old World are doing. Because there is one thing you can count on, and that is that the American Left is watching, too, and they will use Europe not as a warning, but as an example.
Editor's Note: This article was edited for clarity post-publication.
