Another Bizarre Truss Backflip - Banning Solar Farms - Manages To Unite Almost Everyone Against Her [View all]

[hatrack]

Liz Truss and her environment secretary, Ranil Jayawardena, have achieved the almost unthinkable this week, by reportedly moving to ban solar farms from much of England. In doing so, they have even managed to unite the free-market, anti-net-zero Institute of Economic Affairs thinktank with green groups, the energy industry and the Labour party in opposing the plans.

Banning solar farms from most of England’s farmland would place Truss squarely in opposition to the policy priorities she set out in her own speech to the Conservative party conference. Under the banner “get Britain moving”, the prime minister said she wanted faster economic growth, lower energy bills, reinforced energy security, more renewables and action to tackle the climate crisis. Yet the solar ban would hold back investment, lead to higher energy bills, lock in continued gas imports, stop renewable growth and stall efforts to reach net zero emissions.

Truss said her ambition was to unleash “growth, growth and growth”. This will be news to the investors waiting to pour up to £20bn into new UK solar projects, according to the Financial Times.

EDIT

The real reasons for Truss and Jayawardena’s antipathy are unclear. Since they cannot oppose solar on grounds of cost, growth, energy security or climate, they are now citing food security. Yet solar occupies a tiny fraction of the UK, is usually on less productive agricultural land and is frequently co-located with grazing. At less than 0.1% of the country, solar covers a smaller land area than airports, golf courses or Christmas trees. Solar also covers a significantly smaller UK land area than biofuel crops, even though Carbon Brief analysis shows solar delivers 50-100 times more driving distance per hectare.

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/12/truss-plan-to-block-solar-farms-is-deeply-unpopular-so-why-is-she-so-keen