Wednesday, 22 September 2021

It's Like an Armando Iannucci Script?

Armando Iannucci is the Glasgow-born writer of hit political commedy programmes, such as In the Loop and The Thick of It. Picture this, the UK PM stands atop a skyscraper in New York, telling a reporter how he and the US President are working together to save the planet from climate change. There will have to be a dramatic reduction in the emissions of 'greenhouse gases', notably carbon dioxide. Concomitantly at home in the UK, one of his ministers is fixing a deal with a US-owned fertiliser company to boost carbon dioxide production (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/sep/21/ministers-reach-deal-to-restart-co2-production-at-teesside-and-cheshire-plants). The UK's shortage of carbon dioxide is causing problems in the food 'industry'. It is needed for humane slaughter of animals, putting the fizz in fizzy drinks and extending the shelflives of foods. Sixty percent of the UK's carbon dioxide produced for its food 'industry', was generated as a byproduct by two fertiliser plants in the North of England. The people running the plants had decided to shut down production, because of a sudden increase in the cost of heating gas. The UK minister is apparently going to subsidise the energy costs of the two factories, so they can restart production of their byproduct. You couldn't make it up!

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