@_imey @baylissbaghdad An all-nuclear grid is just too expensive up-front and time consuming (wouldn’t be complete until 2060ish). Much better to pursue an energy mix and upgrade the grid, slotting in more nuclear as we go.
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Guy Butler
786 posts
Oil and gas pays better but requires fewer staff per MWh than renewables.
All the extra grid needing built, the people doing the BESS facilities, the onshore wind, the offshore wind, the solar farms, running all of the above, etc.
This is frequently trumpeted by renewables advocates, they talk about all the jobs that will be created. But these are jobs that aren't needed with a grid that's all nuclear and a bit of fossil to peak.
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The strange thing about this is that more North Sea gas wouldn't affect Britain's wind sector in the slightest. We could double gas output and it wouldn't cut the strike prices they get paid by a penny, nor reduce the amount of wind power going to the grid by one kilowatt-second
Tara Singh@RenewableUKCEO
Why wind power isn't “woke”, my piece in today's @spectator. The North Sea matters but won’t cut bills - we pay the global price for gas. Fracking is unpopular and wouldn’t change that. SMRs are promising but distant. Wind is the practical, affordable option to build right now. spectator.com/article/wind-p…
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@hsu_steve The US is really good at preemptively assessing a threat, preparing for it, then forgetting about it and self-sabotaging until it’s too late
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The threat to US bases from missile attack was widely discussed in defense planning in the 1990s, specifically wrt to the Western Pacific and emerging Chinese capabilities. Now in 2026 we see that threat realized in the ME by Iran.
Gemini:
In the 1990s, U.S. policy discussions regarding the Western Pacific transitioned from Cold War bipolar deterrence to addressing emerging regional missile threats and the potential loss of "sanctuary" for overseas bases. While the U.S. held complete maritime and basing predominance during this decade, analysts began warning that the proliferation of precision-guided munitions could soon put fixed facilities at serious risk.
Shifting Threat Perceptions
End of the "Sanctuary Age": During the Cold War, U.S. overseas air bases were largely considered safe havens. By the late 1990s, research (notably by the RAND Corporation) warned that emerging guidance and munition technologies could put USAF bases at "serious risk".
The "Gulf War Effect": China’s military transformation was heavily informed by the success of U.S. precision strike cruise missiles in the 1990–91 Gulf War. This led Beijing to shift from a purely nuclear strategic force to a "projectile-centric strategy" utilizing conventional ballistic and cruise missiles to target U.S. power projection platforms.
Arnaud Bertrand@RnaudBertrand
This is stunning: it looks like Iran degraded American military bases into unusability across an entire theater, simultaneously. As far as I know, no other U.S. adversary has achieved that, ever. This is directly reported in the NYT (nytimes.com/2026/03/25/us/…): they write that Iran has rendered "many of the 13 military bases in the region used by American troops [...] all but uninhabitable." As the article describes, "there were close to 40,000 U.S. troops in the region when the war started, and Central Command has dispersed thousands of them, some to as far away as Europe." Those troops that do remain are "not on their original bases" but have been "relocated to hotels and office spaces throughout the region." Genuinely incredible.
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@Zacctastic The war bankrupted us, and the war was in large part caused by a stupid naval arms race that benefitted nobody
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… and to think that in November of 1918, the Royal Navy had 61 battleships, 120 cruisers and 466 destroyers. Their peak. Then everything went downhill.
Did they need numbers like that after the Great War? No. But to see it in this condition today is unconscionable.
GH HILL@GHHILL1911
I've told you about how the Royal Navy is in such sad conditions. You don't need to subscribe to JANE's to see it... Here's a detailed breakdown of the UK's Naval breakdowns. Mark Felton Productions knocks it out of the ballpark again. youtu.be/Gru2EDJvj9Q
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This isn’t aimed at you, reader. It is aimed at the 5% of the US population who are stupider than you can imagine…
The Bulwark@BulwarkOnline
Vance suggests Iran could have used nuclear suicide vests: “You talk about people who walk into a crowded supermarket and have a vest on, and they blow up the vest and a couple of people get killed, and that's a terrible tragedy. What happens when what's on the vest is not something that can kill a couple of people, but can kill many, many tens of thousands of people?”
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@kaya85kaya @RupertDarwall @JeevunSandher The labour market for the renewable sector is essentially the same as for oil and gas.
Already far more people work in renewables in the UK than fossil fuels. We get their tax revenue and these are growth industries, unlike North Sea oil and gas.
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@RupertDarwall @JeevunSandher Also 'it costs the same' is BS
What he prob means to say is 'we pay the same' if its from the north Sea or LNG from the USA
Sure but if its from the USA they get the jobs and taxes and energy security if its from the north sea we get that
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Extraordinary. @JeevunSandher who allegedly has a PhD in economics, believes that the cost of transporting gas through pipelines and liquefying, shipping and regasifying it is zero ...
LBC@LBC
‘It costs the same, whether it comes out of the North Sea or the Middle East.' Labour’s @JeevunSandher challenges hotelier Rocco Forte's claim that the UK needs to drill for oil and gas.
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Guy Butler retweetledi
🚨 REPORT | An Israeli citizen was arrested in Las Vegas after police found a cache of weapons, lab equipment, and more than 1,000 samples of unknown liquids at a home tied to a widening biosecurity investigation, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Ori Solomon, 55, is accused of illegally possessing firearms and improperly disposing of hazardous waste. Authorities said officers in protective gear removed materials from the home, which were consistent with those found in a separate case in California.
That investigation began when a foul smell led officials to a warehouse in Reedley, where they discovered a hidden lab containing thousands of biological samples, 1,000 lab mice, and evidence of at least 20 infectious agents including SARS, hepatitis, and dengue.
Prosecutors say Chinese national Jia Bei Zhu ran a scheme from there, importing COVID tests from China and selling them as American-made, and a congressional report flagged over $1.3 million in unexplained payments from Chinese banks tied to the operation.
Investigators found Zhu had listed a Las Vegas house as bail collateral and called it hundreds of times over the past year, making it a key lead that led police to raid the Sugar Springs Drive property, where Ori Solomon was identified as the manager.
Los Angeles Times@latimes
What began as a routine check triggered by a persistent odor led to an unsettling discovery: a hidden lab operating inside a California warehouse containing dangerous pathogens including HIV, malaria, COVID-19 and Ebola. latimes.com/california/sto…
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Guy Butler retweetledi
The US is not cutting aid to Ukraine.
It already did that.
The US is stealing critical defense equipment meant for Ukraine already paid for by NATO allies so it can prop up a bullshit war in the Middle East.
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@video4me @ssmethurst_gva @LoftusSteve @FUDdaily @JeevunSandher Fracking is just never going to happen in the UK. Not much accessible gas, massive public opposition, no existing infrastructure. There’s no energy company seeing an opportunity for this, just an anti-NZ fantasy
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@ssmethurst_gva @5saeternitatis @LoftusSteve @FUDdaily @JeevunSandher Or we could maximise renewables and the fracking tech, and it would last 800 years.
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No it doesn't @JeevunSandher
The gas may cost the same, but the liquefaction, transport, and regasification costs around $5 million per tanker.
It's also far higher in emissions, so why wouldn't you take it from the North Sea? It's pure ideology.
LBC@LBC
‘It costs the same, whether it comes out of the North Sea or the Middle East.' Labour’s @JeevunSandher challenges hotelier Rocco Forte's claim that the UK needs to drill for oil and gas.
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@ssmethurst_gva @LoftusSteve @FUDdaily @JeevunSandher Where are you going to miraculously generate all that gas from? Hint - there ain’t enough in the North Sea, a pretty much entirely mapped and heavily depleted basin
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@LoftusSteve @FUDdaily @JeevunSandher Total rubbish. If we were self sufficient in gas we could have similar prices to USA à quarter of the UK cost.
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@LoftusSteve @JeevunSandher Energy companies don’t currently price the gas differently to consumers based on whether it’s LNG or not. The only way to make North Sea gas cheaper for consumers would be to use Domestic Reservation, which all UK governments have avoided because it would scare off investment
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@andrew_lilico The societal knock-on effects of poor people facing much higher bills for lighting, cooking and using electrical equipment are not good
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But *why*?? *Why* should there be any support package at all? Our policy community has gone mad. Stark raving mad.
Steven Swinford@Steven_Swinford
Exclusive from @benclatworthy Rachel Reeves is preparing to announce a limited package of support for energy bills over the summer and is instead focused on a more significant bailout in the winter The chancellor believes support for households who use gas for heating can wait until the autumn. The energy bill price cap, set by Ofgem, the regulator, is expected to jump by about £330 in July, forecasts suggest. That means average household bills will hit £1,972, according to Cornwall Insight, a consultancy. Treasury officials said Reeves was expected to allow this to go ahead. She believes the picture will be clearer by autumn and any support package should be introduced when gas consumption jumps with the arrival of colder months Government figures show that households use 78 per cent of their annual gas consumption during the winter thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…
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@baylissbaghdad That may be the case with solar, but it's not case with wind, hydropower, hydrogen or SMRs.
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@5saeternitatis The countries that will become world leaders in these technologies are currently among the more advanced emerging markets. They have lower personnel and energy costs than we do, and increasingly also have better long-term regulatory and supply chain environments.
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@baylissbaghdad I wish ministers would be more honest about this opportunity cost but I understand the hesitation! There are lots of ambitious green energy projects across the UK that require (affordable) skilled technicians. We all benefit if the UK becomes a world leader in this.
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@maxtempers The real limited resource is the number of skilled technicians. Expanding oil and gas drilling creates a lot of demand for talent which pushes up hiring costs across the renewables sector.
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This is so stupid. Even if we (incorrectly) assume that domestic gas production would have no influence over prices, it is STILL obviously beneficial.
We ALL benefit from improvements to the balance of payments, currency, jobs & tax revenue that come out of domestic production.
Tara Singh@RenewableUKCEO
Why wind power isn't “woke”, my piece in today's @spectator. The North Sea matters but won’t cut bills - we pay the global price for gas. Fracking is unpopular and wouldn’t change that. SMRs are promising but distant. Wind is the practical, affordable option to build right now. spectator.com/article/wind-p…
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Guy Butler retweetledi
Jesus loves. Christian Nationalism kills.
You may pray for my death, Pastor, but I still love you.
I love you more than you could ever hate me.
Jennifer Bendery@jbendery
New: Pete Hegseth’s pastor and close spiritual advisor says he wants Texas Democratic state Rep. James Talarico to die. “We want him crucified with Christ,” Brooks Potteiger said of Talarico, as the podcast host said he prays “that God kills him.” huffpost.com/entry/pete-heg…
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People allowing themselves to be ragebaited by low-effort ragebait is actually a far bigger problem
Thomas Chatterton Williams@thomaschattwill
A lot of the problems in the world right now can be explained by this video. For one thing, it’s a big reason why the US government is so unaccountable to public opinion. These are *college students.* A significant amount of the country is totally checked out and comfortable enough not to think it matters.
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FBI director Kash Patel’s girlfriend says Michael Flynn, Tucker Carlson, Joe Kent and Candace Owens are all tied to a foreign influence operation.
Alexis Wilkins@AlexisWilkins
THREAD: (1/13) A foreign-linked influence network has been running coordinated operations against the Trump administration for 22 months. I know it's real because they ran one against me. I was targeted in something I knew was far from organic. This level of media is isolating, unwanted, and unwarranted. There was nobody to help, nobody to jump in and say, this is a false OP and help me. Well, I don’t believe in problems without solutions, so I’ve spent the last few months learning to build programs to utilize publicly available information to prove that this is way bigger than me. This is about creating chaos in the Republican Party. It's about the organized effort to lose Republicans the midterms and subvert President Trump's agenda, and I have the data for you to see 🧵
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