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Liz Truss faces a daunting array of environmental crises, from energy supply to sewage spills on British beaches, with little to show that she has the inclination to take them on.
Ben Goldsmith, the chair of the Conservative Environment Network, and a longtime green Tory who was a strong supporter of Boris Johnson, said of the UK’s new prime minister and her defeated rival: “Neither Truss nor Sunak has been known for their passion for nature. Neither has made a name for themselves as an environmental leader.”
There is a danger of blackouts this winter, amid soaring energy prices and a potential supply crunch, but Truss has set her face firmly against any form of energy rationing and has so far refused to countenance the idea that consumers must change their behaviour to reduce energy waste. She has not yet set out plans for insulating homes, which experts have said must form the key part of any strategy to reduce energy bills, and is against new onshore wind and solar farms.
Instead, Truss has talked of squeezing more production from the North Sea and licensing new oil and gas fields, though these would take years or decades to come on stream.
Mike Childs, the head of policy at Friends of the Earth, told the Guardian: “[Truss] is facing an in-tray overflowing with immediate and existential threats: the energy crisis, the accelerating climate emergency, an emerging biodiversity crisis, and a war in Europe.
“None of these can be solved by pandering to those in her party who are advocating environmental deregulation and new gas, oil and coal extraction.
