# Net Zero or ‘drill, baby, drill’? The future of UK energy

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/academy-of-ideas-740460/net-zero-or-drill-baby-drill-the-future-of-uk-energy
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/academy-of-ideas-740460/net-zero-or-drill-baby-drill-the-future-of-uk-energy.md
Podcast: [Academy of Ideas](https://stenobird.com/podcast/academy-of-ideas-740460)
Published: 2026-03-20T16:53:29+00:00
Episode link: https://InstituteofIdeas1.podbean.com/e/net-zero-or-drill-baby-drill-the-future-of-uk-energy/
Audio file: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/9vht8fchxutppajy/5_Net_zero_or_drill_baby_drill_The_future_of_UK_energyahh6k.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/academy-of-ideas-740460/episodes/net-zero-or-drill-baby-drill-the-future-of-uk-energy
Duration seconds: 5761

## Resource

With the war in Iran leading to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, preventing or restricting oil and gas being exported from many of the Gulf states, the UK's energy policy has come to the fore once more. Proponents of renewables claim that a rapid shift to homegrown wind and solar power will spare us from the volatility of international supplies of fossil fuels. Critics argue the UK will need oil and gas for decades to come, but we can produce more, either in the North Sea or by fracking on land. This debate from the Battle of Ideas festival 2025 is, therefore, highly topical. Where should future energy policy go? ORIGINAL FESTIVAL INTRODUCTION In June 2019, the Conservative government amended the Climate Change Act to insert a target of ‘net zero’ emissions by 2050. At the 2024 General Election, all the major political parties, with the exception of Reform, promised to back the goal, with any differences being about when to implement various policies, such as gas-boiler and petrol-car bans. Reform is well ahead in the opinion polls, and calling for the end of Net Zero and the resumption of fracking. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said: ‘We’ve got to stop pretending to the next generation… Net Zero by 2050 is impossible.’ Is Net Zero gradually being ditched? For proponents of the policy, climate change remains a clear and present danger. The energy and climate change secretary, Ed Miliband declared in May that Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are still backing Net Zero: ‘It’s absolutely central to their economic growth and energy security, as well as climate agenda … So as far as I’m concerned, they are 100% committed to this agenda.’ Labour has stopped new licences for gas and oil production in the North Sea and is committed to expanding renewable energy, with…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/academy-of-ideas-740460/episodes/net-zero-or-drill-baby-drill-the-future-of-uk-energy/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/academy-of-ideas-740460/net-zero-or-drill-baby-drill-the-future-of-uk-energy.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.