The Environmentalists Are Running The Asylum

It seems more and more that our politicians are bowing down to the environmentalists.  It is bad enough when politicians try and run the country themselves, but when they start listening to environmentalists the whole situation gets much worse.

In making these claims I must point out that I am accusing all the political parties, so this covers the present government and it's predecessors.

At various climate summits our politicians have signed us up to reductions in CO2 emissions which are not achievable.  This is just like  a salesman saying his product will do things it clearly does not.  Before agreeing these reductions perhaps our representatives should have taken expert advice on what can and cannot be done!

The same climate summits see other countries agreeing to far less severe reductions in CO2, with some such as China even suggesting they cannot reduce CO2 but are likely to increase.

This leads to unsustainable plans for wind farms, solar farms and so on to produce a fraction of the reduction we are committed to.

So the government attack the issue in different ways by trying to force us out of our cars and make us install ever greater levels of insulation in our homes.

The latest scheme however has to take the biscuit, whereby if you wish to carry out certain changes to your home you will be inspected and presented with a list of other work to be carried out - at your own expense - if you wish to go ahead.  Don't worry though as they will offer you a loan so that any possible savings will be lost when you repay this.

Two examples quoted so far have been boiler replacement and building a conservatory (and perhaps any type of extension).

The first will affect me, and many others. as boilers have a finite life.  My house was built in accordance with the building regulations and insulation standards of the time, but would now fall short and I have no doubt I would be expected to top up the loft insulation at the very least.  My loft insulation is the depth of the joists so in some areas I have boarded the loft for storage space.  This will presumably have to be taken up and more insulation added such that I can no longer use the loft for storage unless I raise the floor in some areas.

Perhaps I should just leave my old boiler in place longer, OK it is less efficient than a more modern boiler but the savings from the boiler are already hard to justify against the cost of installing it, let alone when it comes to the additional expense.

Madness!

What about people in older properties, particularly those with solid walls?  Their insulation factors may well be low.  Do they get forced to insulate the inside of the walls and make the rooms smaller and lose the character of the building, or perhaps insulate the outside, again losing the character.

The lunatics really are taking over the asylum.