A Reform UK mayor who claims “net zero madness” is “bankrupting Britain” has called for investment in an offshore wind project “to boost growth” in the local economy.
Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who was elected as Greater Lincolnshire Mayor in the 1 May local elections, has been a vocal opponent of climate action and renewable energy projects, vowing to oppose new solar farms and electricity pylons in her county.
But at a three-day investment event this week, Jenkyns promoted 17 local projects, including the Humber Freeport, which an official press release from the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority described as “a leading offshore wind and renewables hub”.
Jenkyns is the head of the authority and “took part in a number of speaker sessions and engagements” at its pavilion during the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF).
Speaking at the event, Jenkyns said: “Our area has attractive investment opportunities and enormous potential for growth, and I know by working together with dedicated teams across Greater Lincolnshire, we can maximise the opportunities at UKREiiF to boost growth and investment.”
The Humber region, which has a-third of the UK’s offshore wind capacity, generates roughly 17 percent of the country’s electricity.
This news comes after Reform’s second elected mayor, Luke Campbell in Hull and East Yorkshire, backed a local investment partnership called The Great North, an alliance of northern mayors which supports clean energy projects. According to the Financial Times, former professional boxer Campbell called the initiative “a fantastic opportunity” for his region.
Reform deputy leader Richard Tice has vowed to oppose local climate initiatives, saying: “We will attack, we will hinder, we will delay, we will obstruct, we will put every hurdle in your way. It’s going to cost you a fortune, and you’re not going to win. So give up and go away.”
In a speech at Reform’s East Midlands conference in January, Jenkyns claimed that Labour was “bankrupting Britain” with its “net zero madness”.
However, the UKREiiF event is the first indication that Jenkyns may find it difficult to maintain her opposition to clean energy while advocating for her local economy.
Net zero industries contribute about £980 million to the Greater Lincolnshire economy, providing 12,209 jobs, according to analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU).
As DeSmog has reported, Lincolnshire is also one of the regions most at risk flooding caused by climate change.
“Despite the bluster and hot air from Reform, the figures speak for themselves,” said Green Party deputy leader Zack Polanski. “The green economy is one of the fastest-growing sectors in our economy and will be a key driver for long-term sustainable economic prosperity. Greens are clear about this even if Reform aren’t.”
The Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority referred DeSmog to the Reform UK press office, which did not respond to our request for comment.
Shilling and Drilling
Jenkyns this week stepped down from the board of Net Zero Watch, the campaign arm of the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), a climate science denial group that has suggested CO2 emissions are “not pollution” and instead could be a “benefit to the planet”.
Jenkyns has herself claimed that “carbon dioxide is not pollution”, and that CO2 “is only one of many factors that might have an impact on the climate”.
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s top climate science body, has stated that carbon dioxide “is responsible for most of global warming” since the late 19th century, and has increased the “severity and frequency of weather and climate extremes, like heat waves, heavy rains, and drought”.
Net Zero Watch and Jenkyns did not reply when asked by DeSmog why she left the board.
Led by Nigel Farage, Reform campaigns to scrap the UK’s policies to reach net zero emissions. The party, which is raising money from oil and gas executives, supports new fossil fuel extraction and spreads doubt about the science of human-caused climate change.
Reform took control of 10 local authorities in the 1 May elections, along with the two mayoralties, and also won a by-election in Runcorn and Helsby, gaining a fifth member of Parliament.
The party today announced that it would demand that the UK government receives a stake in new North Sea drilling projects in exchange for reduced taxes and regulations on the oil and gas sector.
As DeSmog previously revealed, the party received £2.3 million from climate deniers, polluters and fossil fuel interests between the 2019 and 2024 general elections, equivalent to 92 percent of its funding during the period.
“The UK has already burned most of its gas and what’s left is oil, most of which is exported,” said Tessa Khan, executive director of the research and campaign group Uplift. “There is no public benefit from more drilling: it will do nothing to lower people’s energy bills or boost UK energy security.
“Handing more money over to oil and gas companies would be an outrage, when the rest of us have been paying the price of their profiteering for years in the form of unaffordable energy bills. They have been making billions while UK pensioners, families with children and disabled people have faced impossible choices like between heating and eating.”
It was recently revealed that oil giant Shell effectively paid no tax in the UK last year – instead receiving £12.4 million from the UK government.
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