Boris predicts gas tax hikes despite rising costs and shortages: report



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Prime Minister Boris Johnson has reportedly announced a series of green taxes to pay for low-carbon heating plans, amid fuel shortages and skyrocketing prices.

Millions of Britons will face even higher bills to heat their homes as the government prepares to double its sweeping green agenda.

Plans to introduce a carbon pricing system would be released ahead of the United Nations Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow next month, The temperature reported.

The announcement will come amid an energy crisis in the UK and across Europe, with the government being warned that average annual energy bills could reach £ 2,000 if prices continue to rise. The wholesale price of gas has already increased tenfold compared to the same period last year.

The plan, which is expected to be enacted by 2023, could see an additional £ 170 added to the average annual gas bill of Britons, according to government estimates. The push for the Green Agenda would also seek to phase out gas boilers in homes in favor of much more expensive heat pumps, which cost around £ 10,000, compared to £ 2,000 for a gas boiler.

The government would enact a £ 400million taxpayer-funded grant to reduce the cost of supposedly greener heaters by £ 10,000 to £ 5,000 over the next three years, with £ 5,000 grants being offered to partially pay for an air-source heat pump and £ 6,000 for heat pumps that extract heat from the ground.

The government has argued that fluctuations in gas prices show the need for a transition from fossil fuels, however, critics have warned that the plans could put the industry at risk due to rising costs.

UK Steel Managing Director Gareth Stace said UK steel producers already pay electricity bills 50 to 80% higher than their German counterparts, and green tax hikes could spell the end of the industry critical.

“If the Prime Minister and the government do nothing to help us they could start strangling steel production here in the UK and rather than working for a high wage economy we will blindly march towards a low economy wages.”

“Right now there is an energy crisis,” Stace said, adding, “If the government does nothing, tomorrow there will be a steel crisis. In terms of the impact it might have on jobs, that wouldn’t be good.

Tory MP Craig Mackinlay, who heads the Net Zero Scrutiny Group of more than 40 Tory MPs, said the plan should be “scaled back and dismissed immediately” as the country already faces “energy poverty” and other impractical green initiatives. would only add to the problem.

The conservative wing of the Conservative Party has also called for opening up access to the North Sea to the fracking industry, in order to become less dependent on Russia and the Middle East for energy.

It is estimated that there are more than 300 oil and gas fields in the North Sea that remain untapped, with around 20 billion barrels of oil believed to lie under the sea.

UK Onshore Oil and Gas has claimed that hydraulic fracturing of just ten percent of gas reserves in northern and central England could meet Britain’s gas needs for the next fifty years.

Conservative MP Nigel Mills told the Daily mail: “We seem to have bet the whole farm on green energy, and ignore whether it is affordable or offers a secure supply. If Mr. Putin lowers the volume, the price skyrockets and we can’t afford it. “

Mills argued that with the need for gas to heat homes over the next several decades, it would be wise to tap into the UK’s natural resources, noting that the money and jobs would stay in the country.

Congressman Sir John Hayes cited America as an example, arguing that the fracking boom has “isolated” the United States from external energy pressures.

While Prime Minister Boris Johnson had previously expressed his wholehearted support for hydraulic fracturing, a moratorium has been imposed on the industry in England since 2019 on allegations of earthquakes associated with drilling.

Although he has previously hailed the industry as a potential boost for employment and a solution to energy poverty, Mr Johnson has instead focused on so-called green alternatives in order to achieve the ambitious goal of zero emissions. net carbon by 2050.

According to a report by the Global Warming Policy Foundation in February last year, Johnson’s net zero program could cost the UK more than £ 3 trillion, or £ 100,000 per household.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka



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