Officials within the European Parliament have demanded that Brexit Britain does not develop a major oil field in the North Sea.
A large number of green agenda-loving representatives sitting within the European Parliament have signed an open letter demanding the UK does not develop a major oil and gas field residing in the North Sea.
The Rosebank site has the potential to supply as much as 500 million barrels of oil, a prospect that is likely appetising to authorities in Westminster considering Europe’s ongoing energy shortage.
However, the yet-to-be-confirmed plan to see the site developed has enraged officials within the European Union, with dozens of MEPs now openly demanding the project be scuttled over fears it could jeopardise various climate goals.
“The evidence is clear that we cannot construct new fossil fuel infrastructure if we are to achieve the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees,” a letter penned by German Green party MEP Michael Bloss read, with the official describing the project as a “climate time bomb”.
“We urge the UK to exhibit international leadership by reconsidering your stance on new oil and gas projects, while also investing in greener and fairer employment opportunities across the country,” the document continued. “To this end, we urge you to reject the Rosebank oil field development.”
Addressed to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the open letter was signed by a total of 40 different EU parliamentarians, the vast majority from the bloc’s transnational Green political group.
UK Forced to Use Emergency Coal Generators for First Time as Green Energy Fails to Keep Up https://t.co/PF8XMxPyOq
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 9, 2023
The idea that EU parliamentarians still see fit to order the UK around even after leaving the bloc is likely to incense many Brexiteers, who spent years campaigning to escape the union for the express purpose of regaining complete autonomous control of the country.
Such an intervention, however, is likely to receive praise from green activists in the country, who have been desperate to sabotage efforts to develop Rosebank to avoid more fossil fuels being burnt.
One Greenpeace activist has previously attacked the project as helping to bring “death and destruction in the Global South”, accusing British authorities of giving “cushy tax breaks” to energy firms.
Yet, ministers have hit back at the suggestions, insisting that developing domestic oil and gas capacity is necessary for the UK’s economic future, with natural gas, in particular, being a relatively green fuel that can help keep homes heated while protecting the environment.
“Unless you can explain how we can transition (to net zero) without oil and gas, we need oil and gas,” Energy and Net-Zero Secretary Grant Shapps bit back regarding fossil fuel development.
Having already banned fracking, the development is also likely seen by many in power as a lifeline during the ongoing energy crisis plaguing Europe, with household bills across the continent at extreme highs.
Such high prices have in turn caused increasing poverty in the UK and beyond, with many families forced to use food banks as inflation leaves them unable to pay both to eat and heat their homes over the winter months.
Energy Crisis UK: ‘Warm Hubs’ Spring Up Across Country as People Struggle to Pay Bills https://t.co/ree918y8H7
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 4, 2023