Just Who Is Illiterate?

The UK's current opposition party's 'pledge' to issue no new licences for North Sea oil and gas exploration, is attracting lots of negative attention. The pledge has been attacked by oil and gas producers, union leaders responsible for workers in the sector, the current governing party and right wing sections of the media. These all, of course, have vested interests in maintaining the status quo. The crux of their argument seems to be that, if these resources are not exploited, the country will have to import more hydrocarbons from nations without our 'values'. They also claim that renewables can't be depended on to generate electricity when the wind doesn't blow (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jun/04/starmer-labour-new-north-sea-oil-gas-ban). Any oil and gas taken from North Sea deposits doesn't, however, stay in the UK. It's sold on the open market and doesn't bring down inflated local prices. Renewables can also be made more dependable by developing battery storage systems as well as utilising mixes of wind, tidal and solar power. Almost 140 organisations have urged the opposition to maintain its pledge on 'new' North Sea oil and gas. The current Prime Minister (PM), however, has described the pledge as 'economically illiterate'. The obvious repost is that the PMs claim is 'environmentally illiterate'. Without a liveable environment, there is no economy. If the UK is going to get anywhere near carbon zero, it can't be deflected by vested interests.