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A bid to delay the introduction of plans to reduce Jersey’s carbon footprint until the war in Ukraine is over has been heavily rejected by politicians.
Senator Sarah Ferguson – a consistent critic of human-influenced climate change – called on States Members to suspend the Government’s ‘roadmap’ to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 until rising prices had returned to normal and the full costs of decarbonisation were known.
But only two others ended up supporting her proposal - St. Mary Constable John Le Bailly and St. Peter Deputy Rowland Huelin - which lost by 40 votes.
Making her last proposition in the States before she steps down from the States Assembly, Senator Ferguson said that it would be “totally irresponsible to put extra costs on islanders and reduce some to penury” at this time.
She argued that the total cost of achieving net-zero by 2050 would be at least £100,000 per household and there were lots of extra costs to moving to an all-electric economy, including the need to extend sub-stations, replace cabling, the lower temperatures achieved by air- or ground-source heat pumps, and the limited reserves of key battery components such as cobalt and lithium.
Senator Ferguson stressed that she was not against protecting the environment but said that “climate change is perfectly normal”.
“Do your research and go back to the beginning [of climatic cycles],” she argued. “[Carbon neutrality] is a cause of the scientifically illiterate, and looking at its champions: a high-school drop-out from Sweden… what science does she know?"
The States Assembly has voted to REJECT Senator @SCFerguson13’s proposition. https://t.co/jfSm0dzjp4
— States Assembly - Jersey's elected parliament (@StatesAssembly) April 27, 2022
Pictured: The Assembly voted to reject Senator Ferguson's proposition.
“And do not accept what the dodos at the UN are saying," Senator Ferguson continued.
“I am not concerned about a climate crisis which doesn’t exist.”
A number of States Members stood to praise Senator Ferguson for her conviction and her concerns over the impact of carbon neutrality on lower income families, but they also said they could not agree with her.
Deputy Rob Ward, who won the Assembly’s backing to declare a ‘climate emergency’ in 2019, said that the Senator’s proposal lacked logic, in that the Carbon Neutral Roadmap was seeking to reduce the island’s reliance on fossil fuels, so arguments about rising oil and gas prices would become irrelevant.
The Assembly is due to debate the Carbon Neutral Roadmap this week.
Express spoke to Steve Skelton, the Government's Group Director, Strategy and Innovation, about the new Carbon Neutral Roadmap...
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