ASPIRATION is one thing, but Net Zero is quite another.
The commitment to balance out carbon emissions by 2050 is forcing the UK into austerity.
The worthy ambition has been undermined by Putin’s war, which has seen the cost of heat, power and fuel rise exponentially, yet the eco zealots continue to demand that gas and oil production is cut, relying on wind and solar that simply cannot provide the capacity.
This drive is full of contradictions.
Drax power station (no connection) burns wood pellets, imported from the USA by diesel powered ships, and emits more carbon per unit than the coal it replaces.
Electric vehicles (EV) cost more to buy than combustion models because batteries are expensive and come mostly from China.
They contain precious, rare earth metals, stripped from the poorest areas on earth in polluting mines.
Ironically, the drop in pump prices makes it more expensive to recharge an EV on a long drive than to fill up (RAC), while the AA found only one in 20 buyers now wants an EV, down from one in four a year ago.
Public chargers are an issue, too.
Only 1,832 exist, while 300,000 are promised.
And the first UK battery plant, Britishvolt, was only saved from bankruptcy last week by an Australian startup.
Wind farms are expensive, intermittent and kill wildlife - especially birds of prey.
East Anglia alone faces 110 miles of despoiling new pylons to bring North Sea wind to the national grid.
On the homes front, heat-exchangers reportedly cost more to install and work less well than was hoped for.
Fossil fuel will, one day, be a thing of the past, but right now the UK needs to increase supply, not reduce it.