Britain Is Waking Up from the Net Zero Fever Dream—Will Brussels?

The British government’s announcement that it will invest £14.2 billion (€16.76bn) in a new nuclear power plant might mark another step towards European officials finally waking up to the benefits of this affordable energy source.

Labour—and, indeed, the ‘opposition’ Conservatives—remains deeply wedded to net zero, even last week announcing a new solar “revolution.” But its announced backing of the new Sizewell C nuclear plant, for which British manufacturer Rolls-Royce has become the preferred bidder to build small modular nuclear reactors, has prompted rare praise from critics of the green agenda.

Calls are also growing for planned nuclear plant shutdowns in Spain to be reversed after European Union sources suggested the Iberian blackout took place while officials tested the limits of renewable energy use ahead of this phase-out.

The Italian government also signalled a nuclear revival in May with the goal of strengthening Italy’s energy independence. Denmark is considering a similar approach after a decades-long ban on the production of power from nuclear energy.

Britain’s Labour has promised “the biggest nuclear rollout programme for a generation,” although a “final investment decision” has yet to be made on the Sizewell C plant.

Author and climate science contrarian Steve Milloy responded by warning that Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is “only talk[ing] about nuclear to con people into believing that a future beyond fossil fuels exists,” while noting that the investment announcement is “actually a tacit admission that wind and solar don’t work.”

William Clouston, leader of the economically left-leaning and culturally traditional Social Democratic Party, also complained that the contractor for the site is the French state (that is, the EDF), asking: “Why can’t we build a British nuclear industry?”