NEW: Where are voters landing on the North Sea oil debate post-Iran?
A quick thread on some of the fluidities and ambiguities, which I think can tell you something about polling/public opinion itself.
Includes some new polling and message testing via @yougov.co.uk for @persuasionuk.bsky.social 🧵
As Ed Miliband seeks to 'double down' on the UK energy transition to clean power, this is a reminder of why that matters to consumers:
The highest proportion of fossil fuels in the energy mix leads to the highest prices according to Fidelity international
www.ft.com/content/6b4e...
Nick Robinson on the Today programme this morning was quick to repeat a misleading line about why we should support new North Sea oil & gas extraction in the UK on the grounds that it's MUCH (4x) cleaner than importing LNG. It's incorrect on several grounds: 🧵
It's perfectly reasonable to challenge ministers on N Sea oil & gas as a response to the energy shock.
But this is the exclusive framing for EVERY interview on this topic.
No minister or opposition leader is ever asked if they'll "max out" wind/solar.
It's always framed as fossil fuels v inaction
As Trump prepares to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, it’s worth knowing a staggering stat about the gas that comes through there:
If all LNG coming down the Strait in 2025 had been used for electricity, it would have been less that what was generated by solar power newly INSTALLED that year
🧵🧵 1/5
Starmer says he’s ‘fed up’ with energy bills going up for Britons because of actions taken by Trump and Putin - www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
The political 'choice' over North Sea oil & gas drilling in a nutshell
"There is no world in which Labour can get a little closer to Reform, allay fears of concerned voters by indulging a nostalgic fantasy that cannot keep the lights on"
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Opening new oil &gas fields in North Sea would encourage developing countries to exploit more fossil fuels
One senior African negotiator reacted furiously to the suggestion:
“new oil exploration by a historic emitter is as contradictory as it is regressive”
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
ICYMI Climate Scientists write urging UK govt - & opposition parties - to prioritise renewable energy as more cost-effective response to energy crisis than North Sea drilling
"around 90% of North Sea oil & gas has already been extracted... more is unlikely to move prices"
www.ft.com/content/5059...
NEW ANALYSIS: Record wind and solar generation saved UK from gas imports worth £1bn in March 2026
📈Wind+solar were up 22% year-on-year in March to a record high for the month
⛴️This avoided the need for gas imports worth £1bn at current high prices
www.carbonbrief.org/...
Huge respect for Ed Miliband's refusal to back down to pressure over North Sea oil. The fact is drilling for oil in the North Sea will do NOTHING to fix the Iran crisis. The only long term solution to this crisis, and others that will follow, is renewables. Anyone who says otherwise has an agenda
What does it mean when we say the North Sea is a mature basin?
This by @frankiemayo.bsky.social illustrates it well. The major spoils have already been tapped, additional discoveries are smaller and more technically complex (expensive).
You can't argue with geology.
Is anyone surprised?
A voluntary certification scheme to limit gas leaks from US production sites isn't working
BP & ExxonMobil are among producers wanting certification to comply with EU rules
Yet gas-imaging cameras revealed “huge emissions” at many sites
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Quote in The National newspaper: Robert Palmer, Deputy Director of Uplift, warned the effects could go beyond energy bills: “This is a blow to UK households but not unexpected. The Iran conflict is set to bring a painful economic hit to the UK with higher energy bills, rocketing food prices and more expensive mortgages.” He added: “It’s clear that the UK’s dependence on fossil fuels is making all of us poorer.”
🔥 Energy bills are set to rise to £1,929 from July - a £288 increase.
💸 Our dependency on fossil fuels is making us poorer.
🌳 To bring down bills - & protect the planet - we need to get off oil and gas as fast as possible!
Me in @scotnational.bsky.social
Am not an energy analyst but why does seem every interview with a U.K. minister this week included a pointed question about why not drilling more in North Sea and almost none about renewables/net zero as an energy security imperative?
It’s bizarre, frankly
More drilling in North Sea ‘not the answer’ for UK energy security, as former military leaders join a chorus of voices arguing for a rapid push towards renewables
NEW FACTCHECK: There has been A LOT of debate in the UK on the North Sea
Sadly much of it is built on false or misleading claims
Me+ @carbonbrief.org colleagues tried to straighten things out
www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-ni...
For a future of lower bills, greater energy resilience and a safe climate, we need to continue to move as fast as we can towards renewables, where the UK is a world leader.
Ramping up North Sea drilling is a pipe dream - we've burned most of the oil and gas in the basin and it would do nothing to bring down people's bills.
Also today the Danish wind company Vestas announced plans for a factory in Scotland, creating 500 jobs building wind turbines.
Great news - renewable energy hit a record today in the UK.
A surge in wind and solar generation helping to blunt the impact of the price shock of the war in Iran.
Gas generation was just 2.4% of the UK's power mix.
🌞 Ultimately the only way to ensure lower bills, secure energy and a safe climate is to move to renewables as fast as we can.
🌳 More drilling isn’t compatible with a safe climate.
🛳️ More drilling will do little to improve security of supply. Even with new discoveries, we’ll be almost completely dependent on gas imports by 2050.
📉 The industry’s assumptions about how much oil and gas is recoverable are - in their own words - “beyond realistic”.
🧾 More drilling won’t bring down people’s energy bills, as prices are set by the global market - even the industry lobby group admits this.
