‘One other HS2’ Sunak blasted over North Sea oil drilling announcement
The Prime Minister has been savaged over his new plans to develop oil and gasoline exploration within the North Sea with a marketing campaign group branding it “another HS2”.
Rishi Sunak has insisted that granting greater than 100 new licences for oil and gasoline extraction within the North Sea was “entirely consistent” with the UK’s net-zero commitments, regardless of local weather campaigners popping out towards the transfer.
But Quentin Willson, Founder of FairCharge, the UK marketing campaign for electrical automobiles, blasted the Prime Minister’s choice to again fossil fuels as a transfer that was “only about the votes” and that the brand new tasks could possibly be “another HS2”.
He mentioned: “We understand that the world can’t switch off fossil fuels instantly, it’s a transition. But it seems clear that the PM and Government are weaponising the move to a sustainable future to win votes.
“News in the present day of 100 plus oil licenses is vastly disappointing. We know that components of North East Scotland are election battlegrounds for the Conservatives so this announcement is barely about votes.
“Carbon capture isn’t yet a proven technology and basing Government policy around a hugely expensive engineering project that isn’t tried or tested is a huge leap of faith. This feels like another HS2 to me.”
Speaking in regards to the want for oil and gasoline, the Prime Minister mentioned: “If we’re going to need it, far better to have it here at home rather than shipping it here from half way around the world with two, three, four times, the amount of carbon emissions versus the oil and gas we have here at home.
“So, it’s fully in keeping with our plans to get to web zero.”
With regulators at the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) currently running the 33rd round of offshore oil and gas licensing, more than 100 licences in total are expected to be awarded from this autumn onward.
The PM would not confirm if that meant the UK Government would give the green light to Rosebank oil field, despite concerns raised by environmental activists, including Greta Thunberg, about the impact it could have.
Mike Childs, head of policy at environmental charity Friends of the Earth, said the Government needed to “concentrate on power effectivity and the UK’s huge home-grown renewable sources, relatively than championing extra pricey and soiled fossil fuels”.
He said: “Climate change is already battering the planet with unprecedented wildfires and heatwaves throughout the globe.
“Granting hundreds of new oil and gas licences will simply pour more fuel on the flames, while doing nothing for energy security as these fossil fuels will be sold on international markets and not reserved for UK use.”