UK Shale Gas Could Shake Government Coalition

Energy Tribune,JAMES DELINGPOLE
"Whatever happens, the solution won't be easy. Under the terms of the 2010 Climate Act, Britain is the only country in the world legally bound to a program of carbon emissions reduction. Between now and 2050, the British taxpayer is expected to stump up £18.3 billion every year, as part of an ambitious scheme to reduce CO2 emissions by 80 per cent.

On top of this, one of Prime Minister David Cameron's first gestures on assuming power was to announce his intention of leading the "greenest government ever." Shale gas is not, of course, as carbon unfriendly as coal. But "fracking" is very much a dirty word among vociferous environmental campaigners. They won't let Britain turn into Gasland without a very bitter fight.

So who's going to win? Ultimately, I predict, it will be a case of "follow the money." If Britain's economic prospects seem grim now, imagine how much worse they're going to feel in six months' time as a battered population emerges from what is forecast to be another freezing winter, with less money in their pocket (energy bills recently rose, on average by 15 per cent), with wind farms popping up like Bubonic plague pustules on their favorite stretch of countryside, and an economy being dragged ever further downward by the European sovereign debt crisis.

At times like this, the government minister responsible for deciding whether or not Britain continues to commit energy suicide will not be the Minister in charge of Energy. It will be the Minister in charge of the purse strings: George Osborne - not Chris Huhne. " (H/T Climate Realists)