Chris Vernon

We've heard a lot recently about the global #foodcrisis. Most coverage focuses on Russia's invasion, blockade of the Black Sea preventing Ukrainian grains & cooking oil exports, high gas prices cutting fertiliser production and sanctions further limiting Russian exports. But...🧵

Posted two days ago. Well done Imperial War Museum! @I_W_M youtu.be/hk6Tcw_5WEI?si…

@ClaireCoutinho Hang on, if we'd spent the last ~15 years moving fast with wind, solar and nuclear, installing heat pumps and insulation, we'd be pretty much OFF gas for power, getting there with heat. Your lot spent all that time frustrating the effort, leaving us on the hook for expensive gas!

More people are realising that shutting down the North Sea to increase our reliance on dirtier foreign imports is INSANE. Here's what the people of Aberdeen thought about Ed Miliband last year. Labour must change course and back the North Sea.

@BenGrahamUK Volcanos? Seriously? It's no long 1990s! I thought the debate had moved on somewhat. Two points; there is absolutely NOTHING we can do about volcanic emissions - what policies, restrictions or 'focus' do you want on volcanos? Secondly, volcanic emissions are trivial, ~0.8% ours.

This volcano will release vast amounts of CO₂ into the atmosphere, completely naturally. No policies. No restrictions. No human involvement. And this has been happening for millions of years, alongside oceans releasing CO₂ and forests cycling it in and out. Yet the focus is almost entirely on human emissions. Are we overestimating our impact?

@Keir_Starmer Come on Keir! The Israeli's hit the Iranian gas field first. Iran's strike was a direct, like for like, retaliation for the Israeli strike. If you want any legitimately, you need be to condemning the Israeli strike in the strongest terms as well.

I condemn in the strongest terms the overnight Iranian strike on a Qatari gas facility. We are working towards a swift resolution to the situation in the Middle East, in the best interests of the British people – because there is no question that ending the war is the quickest way to reduce the cost of living.

😬UK gas prices just hit highest level since 2022😬 At current prices… * New wind & solar from latest "AR7" auction would cut the bill for UK gas imports by £5.5bn/y * A single (1) home heat pump would cut bill for gas imports by more than £600/y

This represents real supply loss for years. Expect higher gas prices in Europe for extended period. If only, UK had moved faster with building wind, solar & installing heat pumps! I hope @Conservatives and @reformparty_uk are feeling foolish for fustrating the energy transistion.

@EdConwaySky Maybe we just have built more wind, solar, nuclear and installed more heat pumps! Thank-you @Conservatives and @reformparty_uk for frustrating efforts to cut our reliance on gas. 🙄

👀 EXCLUSIVE- QATARENERGY CEO TELLS REUTERS: WE MAY HAVE TO DECLARE FORCE MAJEURE ON LONG-TERM CONTRACTS FOR UP TO FIVE YEARS FOR LNG SUPPLIES TO ITALY, BELGIUM, KOREA AND CHINA - From Reuters. This is bad.

Maybe we just have built more wind, solar, nuclear and installed more heat pumps!

Wow, there physically isn't a replacement for this. Prices will be significantly up, and many folk will have to do without.

@PeterZeihan Sanctioned or via shadow fleet, Russia has been able to pump ~9 mbpd into the global energy system, if the dismantling of the fleet removes ~4 mbpd (mostly going to India and China) just as Hormuz is blocked, that's massively compounding! Expect those 4mbpd to unsanctioned quick!

There's a good chance that the entire Russian shadow fleet could be dismantled within months. Beyond the impacts on Russian, Iranian, and other oil supplies, global shipping could be shifting towards a shortage as the vessels are retired. #crude #crudeoil #geopolitics

@AlexEpstein That's a point of view. But given remaining finite fossil fuels are increasing in far away, 'non-aligned' counties, subject to all manor of geo-political risk factors - it's in the UK national security interest in minimise our reliance on such imports.

If you treat intermittent solar and wind as if they were reliable generators, they can appear cheaper than natural gas. If you recognize that intermittent solar and wind are fuel savers for reliable generators, not themselves reliable generators, it becomes clear that trying to power a modern society with them is prohibitively expensive. It would require so much expensive storage and so much overbuilding that the cost would be on the order of 10 to 20x higher than natural gas!

'Staying the course on clean energy would not only save households three times as much money but render the UK truly energy secure for generations to come.' Maximising North Sea production would reduce bills by just £16 to £82 per year, say researchers from the Oxford Smith School ⬇️ theconversation.com/would-more-nor…

@wu_wei_invest @JavierBlas Because the economy/demand is going to drop at least as fast as production?

@JavierBlas Do you have any sense why the market (stocks and oil) seemed to shrug off this news?

Further ominous developments today. For first time, Iran successfully targeted oil/gas production facilities (rather than refining, terminals and storage): Oil and gas field in the UAE (Shah) hit Oil field in Iraq (Majnoon) attacked Plus Saudi Arabia saw large drone swarms

@ClaireCoutinho Come on, Coutinho, you can be better than this. Two key points, firstly, new wind is significantly cheaper than new gas - don't compare apples with oranges. Secondly, we absolutly aren't in the energy spike yet! Let's see how much gas is costing two months from now?

This is extraordinarily misinformed. Ed Miliband just bought offshore wind on a twenty year contract at a HIGHER price than gas power is now during an energy price spike. They are locking us into crisis-level prices for decades. That’s what they call ‘control’.

@elonmusk Exactly - immigration is sharply down under Labour.

This happened under a “conservative” government

@BjornLomborg In back in the real world the perma-pessimists have been wrong, over and over and over again:

The “Green China” narrative is misleading. Beijing’s real strategy: expand energy fast, rely heavily on fossil fuels today — and invest heavily in nuclear for the future. The West should learn from China’s realism, not the hype. My brand new op-ed: nypost.com/2026/03/11/opi…

@hardin_jus56442 @ChrisMurphyCT Diplomacy! The Obama agreement was working.

@ChrisMurphyCT Hey @ChrisMurphyCT ... then what is the right answer? It's easy to say someone else is failing, it's harder to come up with a better answer. I'm an independent voter and have voted both left and right. Create a vision to vote FOR, not a vision to vote AGAINST.

I was in a 2 hour briefing today on the Iran War. All the briefings are closed, because Trump can't defend this war in public. I obviously can't disclose classified info, but you deserve to know how incoherent and incomplete these war plans are. 1/ Here's what I can share:

@marcoacarini @BethRigby @Tory_Brexit69 @SkyNews That's not true Starmer's are removing one and cutting another of the 'on bill' taxes.

@BethRigby @Tory_Brexit69 @SkyNews Whilst you shill for Starmer who has increased energy and fuel bills to the highest levels ever.

NEW: Reform are subsidising prices at a petrol station in Buxton to promote their proposal to cut fuel duty in the wake of the Iran War - more on @skynews later

@trussliz The first three points would NOT have moved the price in any noticeable way and the fourth point, yes, all those 'on bill' taxes were a mistake, some of are now being removed or reduced in April.

My plan in 2022 was to lower the cost of domestic energy in Britain (relative to the international market) by: - abolishing windfall tax on North Sea - licensing new North Sea production - allowing fracking - abolishing green taxes and subsidies This would have lowered Britain's domestic energy costs relative to the international market. At the same time we would guarantee that energy bills would not go above £2,500 - recognising the prior state failure in ensuring security of energy and the necessity of energy for the economy. Because this only paid out when energy prices were high- its cost would be quickly reduced/eliminated by falling domestic energy prices thanks to supply side policy. Needless to say the Treasury was unable/unwilling to model this and the policy was missrepresented by the media who simply don't understand this stuff. My successors continued with the price guarantee but failed to implement the supply side measures. Thus we are back to square one. It's still the right policy.

@trussliz So 'anti-establishment' you were a member of the governing Tory party cabinet for years, oh and even Prime Minister for a few days. To be any more 'establishment' you'd have to be the queen!

“I see myself as an instinctively anti-establishment figure… I am, after all, a contrarian.” Listen to my audiobook "Ten Years to Save the West" here: amzn.to/4uq1qX8