Peter McCusker Energy & Climate

FOR decades the hectoring Malthusian quangos, eco-activists, politicians, charities, and left-wing managerial class have placed protecting the environment ahead of development. But, we are now witnessing these eco-activists turning in on themselves, as the Labour Government presses ahead with plans to industrialise the countryside. And, with billions of pounds of unreliable energy infrastructure set to doorstep many unspoilt views, it’s going to be enjoyable watching them squirm as their green virtue-signalling collides with reality. The UK’s largest solar development, which will come on-line next year, is a case in point. Currently under construction the 860-acre Cleve Hill development engulfs the Graveney salt marshes, near Faversham in Kent. Green Thumb, Eco-Finger Its 560,000 solar panels, some on steel plinths the height of a double decker bus, are surrounded by a nature reserve and home to many, native wetland bird species.   Whilst this is the type of ‘green’ energy developm...

  LAND equivalent to the acreage of some 1,000 UK farms will be needed to accommodate the Labour Government’s Net Zero energy plans. Solar power, for example, requires 34 times more land per unit of energy than nuclear power. However, as the price of UK farmland has trebled over the last 20 years this is causing a major headache for Energy secretary Ed Miliband and his fatuous promise to slash energy bills. Forcing farmers to sell up to avoid Inheritance Tax is seen by Labour as a mechanism to bring more land on to the market and drive down prices. It is in this context that the inheritance tax raid on British farms can be viewed - as a further front in its Net Zero ambition. Farm Land Trebles In Price UK farmland prices have risen from £3,500 per acre to around £10,000 and in 2023 over half of UK farm land was bought by non-farmers  - wealthy individuals and institutions - looking to avoid inheritance tax. As the price of land has risen the rental for solar farms has nudged u...