The UK, Once a Leading Pollutant, is Now Trying to Lead the Way on Climate

Synonymous with the creaking factories of the Industrial Revolution, the country that once darkened the skies and polluted its rivers, making the world call “Newcastle coal”, now generates just over half of its electricity from non-fossil fuels. sources, mainly wind.

While BP, Shell and other energy giants are lobbying the government to continue burning gas, there is no similarity in Britain with West Virginia Democrat Senator Joe Manchin III, who has financial ties to the coal industry, pressing the Biden administration to dilute the fundamentals. depends on climate legislation.

Unlike the United States, where climate change is a partisan issue, green policies enjoy broad support on the left and right. The Climate Change Law, which envisions an 80 percent reduction in emissions by 2050, passed the Parliament with 463 votes to 5.

Nearly a dozen countries and the European Union now have similar laws on the books. In 2019, Mr Johnson’s predecessor Prime Minister Theresa May went even further, making the UK the first major economy to commit to net zero by 2050; which meant it would remove as much greenhouse gas as it produced from the atmosphere.

To some extent, Britain’s leadership is an accident of history, based on the harsh stance of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. reckoning with stunning coal miners By breaking down the union and cutting subsidies for the coal industry, Ms Thatcher accelerated Britain’s search for alternative energy sources, namely natural gas.

“It got rid of coal miners for political and economic reasons,” said Tom Burke, president of E3G, an environmental think tank, and a former government adviser. But it gave Britain a freedom of movement that other countries did not have,” he said.