Net Zero
Net Zero, like its friend ULEZ, has become a rallying cry, a flag up a political flagpole.
But the noise of it flapping in the wind cannot drown out the fact that Net Zero and ULEZ are our true friends. And if Net Zero and ULEZ are ultimately good for us why all the fuss? And what is the Net Zero and ULEZ connection to the fossil fuel industry and to Donald Trump?
Net Zero is shorthand for net-zero emissions, where all greenhouse gases are being removed from Earth's atmosphere at the same rate they are being added.
ULEZ is an Ultra Low Emissions Zone, where vehicles with very high nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter emissions must pay for access because their pollutants are blamed for causing premature deaths and stunting the growth of children's lungs.
Despite the positive health outcomes of Low Emissions Zones, West Northamptonshire Council has made no attempt to introduce them, Ultra or otherwise. But it had set its own Net Zero targets.
As the name suggests, a Net Zero target is something to be aimed at: no target = no aim. Why then did West Northamptonshire's Cabinet vote to cancel our Net Zero targets? The Councillor's arguments for and against scrapping Net Zero targets are all available online1.
On the one hand, hear Councillors state their factually supported reasons for maintaining targets. On the other, listen to Councillors sincerely believing that residents' best interests are served by scrapping local targets.
On the one hand, Councillors across the political colour chart in favour of keeping Net Zero targets. Against them, Reform Party Councillors, a Party led by a friend of Donald Trump.
Last March CA-WN Exchange shared2 that Trump's global network of fellow-travellers included a sizeable proportion of prominent people in Britain. It is worthwhile revisiting those connections now that the Reform Party controls our County.
DeSmog's diagram suggests that the private company that is the Reform UK Party Limited3, and Nigel Farage its founding director, has strong links to both the Fossil Fuel Industry and Donald Trump.
Which might explain why so many in Reform choose climate denial - and why West Northamptonshire's Net Zero targets got scrapped.
LINKS
1 WNC Cabinet Meeting 16 July 2025
2 ‘Drill, baby, drill’: a who's who
3 Reform UK Party Limited