A British Winter
I am still standing by my previous reading of the ongoing ‘energy crisis’, that in truth it’s a controlled demolition of our reliance on fossil fuels, without attending to a replacement. The State isn’t ignorant to climate change, it just doesn’t care. However, it equally isn’t ignorant to the fact we’re well beyond various fossil fuel peaks, and this is something it really doesn’t have the resources to address. Primarily because, no one has the resources to address this problem because it’s a…resource problem.
Anyway, it’s looking to be that consumer energy bills will – practically speaking – double, and business energy bills will multiply between 4-8x (dependent on one’s source). This is catabolic collapse. This isn’t some bump in the road before our next long march of progress, this isn’t a glitch, this isn’t some error. This is reaping what we’ve sown, and have to deal with the consequences brought about by our willfully ignorant actions.
The major problem – among many – is regarding business energy costs. It seems likely, if nothing is done to mitigate the current situation, that thousands, if not tens-of-thousands, of small businesses will go under. This would be the largest economic catastrophe in history. This would, in truth, be an absolute reset in many ways. It’s for those reasons I find it difficult to believe it will happen. Not because I don’t want it to, but because history rarely tends to work in large, exciting events, but moreso, slow, draw out closures.
The government are in a panic, because outside of simply increasing the debt, and offloading the problem on tax-payers via way of more tax, they have very few options. They could cut the 5% VAT, and achieve very little. The state could cover the ‘green levies’ themselves, which would likely end up in…higher tax. The state could target private company’s profits via a windfall tax, but as has already been reported, where government intervention gets in the way of private profit, the company tends to just stop supplying. The same problem arises if the government sets a price cap the private companies can’t go over, in which case, if it isn’t profitable for them to run, they obviously wont. And finally, they could increase our energy supplies, which is being attempted via the restoration of the Rough facility, and the development of a nuclear plant. But these things take years, so for now…we have a very British winter ahead of us.
Am I personally worried? No, I live the life of a hermit, and have very few material wants. Am I generally worried? Yes. Primarily in relation to the business energy bills. Such a drastic alteration of small stores could launch us into an even deeper corporate hegemony, reliant on maybe 5-10 major outlets for all of our needs.
As for advice: Buy some blankets and hot water bottles. Add more insulation to your home if you can. Learn how to cook a good stew. Find ways to minimize your needs. If, however, the business energy prices which are projected remain in place, the consequences will be so drastic, that it’s very difficult to see all which will be effected.