Voltaire would despair of the UK’s climate strategy

The “Powering up Britain” plan presented by the UK government this week highlights the benefits and limitations of official involvement in reducing emissions. On the one hand, the plans to reduce the price of electricity relative to gas will help to sharpen incentives for households, and the case for taxing imported emissions is stronger in the UK than in most countries. But the flip-flopping over the relaxing of a de facto ban on onshore wind power shows how governments can be a blocker as well as an enabler.