Not Zero: How an Irrational Target Will Impoverish You, Help China (and Won't Even Save the Planet)

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Until then, Britain was legally committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent (relative to 1990) by 2050. The new legislation went the whole hog – with net zero suddenly demanded by that date. Yet this huge change was nodded through by the House of Commons without even a vote, and barely a whimper. In a column for the Spectator, Clark argued that Extinction Rebellion is “not a mass movement for better environmental policies – it is a wannabe Marxist revolution in disguise.” 75 Ross Clark. “ Extinction Rebellion is a wannabe Marxist revolution in disguise,” Spectator, November 21, 2018. Archived April 3, 2020. Archived .pdf on file atDeSmog.

If Rishi Sunak concedes to the demands of a group of (reportedly) around 50 MPs and lifts the moratorium on onshore wind which has been in place for seven years, it won’t take long before we find out why it was imposed in the first place. There are few places in England where you can build a wind farm of any size without either causing serious annoyance to locals or compromising valued landscapes.”

Not Zero

In an article for The Spectator, Clark disputed whether the British energy system lasting for two months without coal would end the country’s dependence on fossil fuels, writing: “the coal hard reality is that we are still a long, long way away from ending our dependence on fossil fuels. The contribution from wind and solar, in particular, is hugely inflated in the popular imagination.” 57 Ross Clark. “ Our coal-free months aren’t as impressive as they seem,” Spectator, June 10, 2020. Archived September 28, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/IwYHy The article contains excerpts from Clark’s upcoming anti-net zero book. In one extract, Clark suggested “there might even be some benefits from a warming climate […] such as the ability to grow a richer variety of crops in Britain, but this tended to go missing from the reporting”.

A typical petrol car spews out 5.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, while manufacturing a similar electric car is responsible for 8.1 tonnes. They also cost more to buy, around half as much again as their petrol equivalents. Clark, Ross (21 March 2013). "If property prices fall, this scheme will be a disaster (Osborne pulls out all the stops to reflate the housing bubble)". The Times. The reason we keep having ‘record-breaking heat is not so much because of climate change – although rising global temperatures are slightly increasing the chances of records being broken – but because there are so many records to break.” In a comment piece for the Telegraph, Ross Clark criticised the UK government’s plan to install 600,000 heat pumps by 2028 and ban fossil fuel based heating systems by 2035, arguing that “the Government simply hasn’t thought through its net zero strategy”. 19 Ross Clark. “ Just admit that Britain isn’t ready for heat pumps,” The Telegraph, March 15, 2023. Archived March 15, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/bBFHR Commenting on the government’s decision to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, Clark wrote: “The switch to electric vehicles promises to make life easier for elite motorists, who will enjoy emptier roads, while pricing ordinary drivers off the road.” He also described plans to install 600,000 heat pumps per year by 2028 as “just the latest indication of the massive costs that are going to be dumped on ordinary people.”

A Broom Cupboard of One’s Own: The housing crisis and how to solve it by boosting home-ownership, Harriman House,2012