Some 'Thinktanks' Don't Really Think

Need a vastly inflated figure, to score political 'brownie points'? A 'thinktank' will supply one! Civitas has produced a report on the cost of the UK reaching net zero (in carbon emissions) by 2050 (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/29/how-a-thinktank-got-the-cost-of-net-zero-for-the-uk-wildly-wrong). The Civitas report, written by an avowed 'climate sceptic', estimates the 'true' cost as being £4.5 tn. Much higher than the £1.4 tn estimate by the Climate Change Committee. Why the difference? The Civitas report a) Ignores any savings of the costs of fossil fuels; b) Ignores the catastrophic economic and fiscal consequences of rampant climate change; c) When discussing wind turbines, confuses power capacity (mega watts) with mega watt hours, producing a figure 10,000 times lower than actual and d) even manages to mix up billions with trillions. In spite of it's 'schoolboy errors', the Civitas report was reported by large sections of the right wing media, as a contribution to 'honest debate' on costs with UK tax payers. If you don't like a figure, just get it changed by your friendly, neighbourhood thinktank! The trouble with such rubbish is that, even after corrections, sections of the public are simply left with the impression the costs will be too high.