It's kind of funny how everyone wants to be part of the cool kids - wear what they wear, talk like they talk, shout what they shout, pretend to believe what they believe - right up to where it impacts one's life adversely.
It's always so odd how quickly that can change one's tune.
Former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is a - dare I say it - prime example of that.
For years, he was an ardent implementer of the United Kingdom's march to Net Zero lunacy. Although he did occasionally allow for the teensiest bit of common sense to squeak through when politically expedient, such as his stance on nuclear power. This was something for which he was relentlessly pilloried by the cultists in his own government and loony Labourites.
Rishi Sunak has described nuclear energy as the “perfect antidote” to Britain’s energy challenges while launching a plan to support 80,000 jobs in the sector.
The Government will ramp up the clean power by up to four times to 24 gigawatts (GW) by 2050 – enough to provide a quarter of the UK’s electricity needs.
The civil and defence nuclear workforce will need to double over the next 20 years – supporting around 80,000 additional skilled jobs across the UK.
Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho and Mr Sunak insisted a revival of the sector will also reduce electricity bills and improve UK energy security.
If only, huh?
In any event those were the waning days of his time at No. 10. He had seemed to see the political writing on the wall, because in 2023, he gave a speech that sent green grifting blood pressures soaring. Why not, he asked, push back some of the hard and fast NetZero goals and give people some breathing room.
The cultists went into a near-unrecoverable swoon.
...The prime minister pointed out that the UK’s last carbon budget was debated in the House of Commons for just 17 minutes. He is right that this is “not a responsible way to make decisions which have such a bearing on people’s lives”, as the Institute for Government has also argued.
He is also right that government ministers have set ambitious targets without detailed plans for how the UK is going to hit them. The future reforms to energy infrastructure, including spatial plans and grid improvements as well as increased grants for heat pumps, that Sunak announced represent sensible moves towards delivering net zero, although in each of these cases more detail would have been helpful.
Delaying action on climate change may increase costs in the long term
Moving the goalposts on electric vehicle (EVs) and heat pump regulations at short notice, with no consultation and following repeated assurances that deadlines won’t move, undermines the confidence of businesses whose investment in kit and capability are critical to delivering the UK’s aims. The energy efficiency sector has already been victim to overly frequent policy changes, such as with the Green Deal and Green Homes Grant. The current government strategy is heavily reliant on private investment to hit net zero by 2050, making policy consistency even more important. The recent failure of the offshore wind auction shows that even robust sectors can be vulnerable to government actions damaging the market and raising costs for consumers.
Protecting those on low incomes who risk being left behind in the shift to low carbon technologies is crucial, but delays push back both costs and savings – EVs are significantly cheaper to run than petrol or diesel vehicles and it is cheaper to heat well-insulated homes with renewable energy. Scrapping energy efficiency standards for rented homes will remove an upfront cost for landlords but leave renters paying higher energy bills for longer. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) noted in its 2021 fiscal risks report 1 that delaying action would increase the overall cost of getting to net zero.
To a cultist, 'delaying action' on their ill-conceived, ruinous madness always, always 'increases the costs.'
But as we say in these parts, that didn't make no nevermind. Sunak was soon out of a job, and climate lunatics from Labour took his place.
What's funny is where I've just found Sunak now.
On a hillside in Wensleydale - yes, THAT Wensleydale.
Besides the cheese that makes Wallace quiver in anticipation of a slice on a biscuit, Wensleydale is in the Yorkshire Dales, a place known for its beautiful wild vistas. The Dales are called, in fact, 'one of England's last great wildernesses.'
And they are planning to plop a 23-turbine wind farm smack down in the middle of it, each, as Sunak says, 'twice the height of Big Ben.'
The national park in the vicinity has been treading carefully while trying to keep everyone informed, which probably doesn't make either the government happy or the developers.
We know the Hope Moor Wind Farm proposal is of significant interest. While we are not responsible for deciding whether the project proceeds, we recognise the importance of keeping local communities informed throughout the process, here 👇 https://t.co/NtwJfYKgy8 https://t.co/yNLjDLK89I
— Yorkshire Dales National Park (@yorkshire_dales) August 24, 2026
Folks in the area declared war on Labour's revolting NetZero guru, Ed Miliband.
@Ed_Miliband We will fight you & Fred Olsen every step of the way. View of Hope Moor net zero project where you plan x 23, 200 foot wind turbines, height of the Gherkin, visible from York, Newcastle, Whitby & Lake District. Destroying our precious landscape, peat bog land & wildlife. https://t.co/H4JfjdIGzx
— Just Jo (@joanneladybird) May 14, 2026
And now Sunak's joined the effort.
I have to admit, the scenery - and hearing that coveted wind in the background - in Sunak's Instagram protest (!) video is simply stunning.
People are understandably stirred up for obvious reasons. One ugly frickin' tower and that great wildness is gone.
One of England’s last great wildernesses should not be sacrificed to generate enough electricity for a single data centre, a public meeting was told last night.
Around 150 people attended the meeting at Richmond School, which was called by the Hope Moor Wind Farm Action Group.
The event was held to highlight Fred. Olsen Renewables’ plans to build 23 wind turbines, each more than 200 metres high, on around 2,700 acres of moorland between Arkengarthdale and Teesdale.
The fact that it's a foreign company planning to trash the landscape doesn't help mollify the locals' anger. They've never forgiven the original Viking marauders.
...In the piece, Sir Anthony described himself as “steward of this large chunk of beautiful countryside” and said he was aware of his “responsibility” to care for it.
Mr Wilson added: “Hope Moor has been described as one of the last great wilderness areas in the country, and in my opinion, it will be an act of criminality to ruin it forever.”
The campaigner likened the Norwegian energy company behind the scheme to modern-day Vikings who were “flying back to Norway in their Learjets” to “count billions of UK taxpayer money handed out in generous subsidies” for containment — payments given to wind farm operators when turbines need to be switched off due to capacity issues within the national grid.
And the promises of the company to 'reinstate' the area are falling on skeptical, cynical, and derisive ears. How, locals ask, do you remediate peat bogs that have taken hundreds of thousands of years to form once you've scraped them away, even if the development company is still solvent in five or twenty years?
@MiloWKB What’s the betting that when the time comes to reinstate the company will be insolvent. Unless of course they have been forced to pay into a ring fenced sinking fund.
— Paul in Sussex -Anglo Saxon (@PaulGurr1) October 17, 2026
Besides the towers and infrastructure, over 17 miles of roads are estimated to be needed in the pristine dales for construction and maintenance.
What irreversible scars across the landscape will those leave?
Oh, good luck to them.
Rishi Sunak and Sam Rushworth unite to oppose massive 23-turbine moorland wind farm https://t.co/qGLEuQaZOX
— Beesimo (@TheRealBeesimo) October 28, 2026
Maybe they could take some courage from a victory fellow Englishmen had only two days ago against another planned forest of behemoths nearly 500 feet tall proposed for a beloved site.
'Hockney Country' wind turbine plans rejected - full story ⬇️ https://t.co/I9c5udecpO
— BBC Humberside (@RadioHumberside) October 27, 2026
The woods artist David Hockney loved to paint.
David Hockney ~ Woldgate Woods, 2008 #FirstDayofFall https://t.co/X9S36cKs84
— Arthur David Spota (@ADASpota) September 23, 2019
The Yorkshire folks who formed Keep Wind Off Woldgate fought like tigers and prevailed.
Campaigners block 492ft wind turbines from David Hockney beauty spot
Campaigners have blocked six giant wind turbines after arguing they would ruin a countryside beauty spot once painted by David Hockney.
The 492ft-high structures would have loomed over the rolling Yorkshire Wolds landscape - which inspired some of the late artist's most celebrated paintings.
Developers had argued that the scheme would produce enough renewable electricity to power roughly 24,000 households each year.
But planning chiefs have now thrown out the scheme, saying it would threaten historic landmarks, villagers' homes and even military radar.
...East Riding of Yorkshire Council refused the application by Three Oaks REP Extension Ltd on Monday.
The proposals would have seen six turbines built at Thornholme Fields, near Burton Agnes in East Yorkshire.
A 300ft-high meteorological mast, underground cables, transformer kiosks, crane pads and access tracks were also included in the plans
But in a report giving five reasons for its refusal, council planners warned the development would cause "a high level of harm" to some of the area's most treasured landmarks.
And classic developer speak.
...The developer said it will consider the council's decision "before determining our next steps".
The wind will stay off Woldgate for the foreseeable future.
https://t.co/FbxaZxf7vT Campaigners thrilled by decision to refuse windfarm near David Hockney's famous Woldgate
— The Yorkshire Post (@yorkshirepost) October 27, 2026
I hope Wensleydale and all the communities who treasure their slice of the Yorkshire Dales are as victorious.
They look magical.
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