Britain’s North Sea Gas Field Approval Marks Another Win for the Iron Law of Electricity
Jackdaw today with Rosebank approval looming in the future as Britain Takes an important step away from Net Zero insanity.
As I have argued here at Legal Insurrection, the era of “climate crisis” hysteria is ending, as evidenced by Britain’s latest energy decision that offers another welcome sign that reality is reasserting itself.
The British government has approved the long-stalled Jackdaw gas project in the North Sea, clearing the way for domestic gas supplies to begin flowing as early as the end of this month after years of legal battles.
Britain on Wednesday approved the Jackdaw North Sea gas field, ending years of legal and political wrangling as the Labour government seeks to balance its climate goals with energy security concerns.
Energy minister Miatta Fahnbulleh said the project would begin supplying gas to British homes and businesses by the end of this month, helping ease energy costs that have surged during the Iran war.
Higher energy prices have weighed on households and businesses, dragging on Britain’s economy and prompting US President Donald Trump to repeatedly urge Prime Minister Andy Burnham to expand North Sea drilling to help lower costs.
The government said Jackdaw would raise domestic gas production by about 6% at peak output and operate for up to 11 years, calling it “a source of national strength” during a period of global instability.
Energy Secretary @Miatsf has agreed that the regulator can grant consent for gas to be produced at the licensed Jackdaw field.
Gas from Jackdaw is expected to start reaching British homes and businesses as early as the end of this month. pic.twitter.com/gpaQBo38n5
— Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (@energygovuk) October 21, 2026
Chalk up another win for Robert Bryce’s Iron Law of Electricity: when securing essential power is at stake, people, businesses, and nations ultimately do what necessity demands and not what green activists prefer.
Sadly, for Brits who want inexpensive, available, and efficient sources of energy, the government is still full steam ahead on Net Zero.
Mr Burnham said the Government remained committed to renewable energy but was taking a “pragmatic” approach to the North Sea.
He said: “I welcome the Energy Secretary’s decision, which will protect hundreds of jobs and help keep millions of homes warm this winter.
“At a time when people are really struggling, it’s right that we look in a responsible way at maximising the existing energy reserves we have in Britain that could help.
“We’re committed to moving towards renewable energy and reaching net zero by 2050.
Jackdaw decision could unlock a new North Sea oil boom worth £50billion https://t.co/AN2yRTzkA3
— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) October 21, 2026
I will simply point out that 2050 is 24 years away… and that solar power and wind energy are not likely to become so efficient in the next two decades that they can sustain civilization-worthy living in the British Isles at that time.
Of course, that may no longer be a serious consideration for the British government. But I digress.
Environmental activists are deeply unhappy. However, their drama doesn’t look to be deterring Burnham from possibly opening up another site for drilling in the near future.
Environmental activists called the approval of Jackdaw a betrayal of Britain’s efforts to address rising global temperatures. They noted that the decision comes weeks ahead of a United Nations climate summit in Turkey, where Mr. Burnham has said he will lead the British delegation and “meet the climate challenge.”
…Mr. Burnham’s government has left an even more contentious decision — whether to allow a separate offshore oil development in the North Sea known as Rosebank — for a later date.
Jackdaw will be the site of the first new oil and gas extraction in Britain’s North Sea since the Labour government imposed a moratorium on new drilling in 2024.
Adura, a joint venture between Shell, the British oil giant, and the Norwegian energy company Equinor, intends to develop the project. It has said work on the field could begin immediately after approval.
Jackdaw is a welcome concession to reality, but Britain needs an energy policy built around reliable supplies rather than occasional exceptions wrapped in renewed pledges to Net Zero.
Burnham should apply that same pragmatism to Rosebank, rather than treating domestic energy production as something requiring an apology to climate activists.
The Iron Law of Electricity does not bend to summit speeches or mean tweets offered up by unhappy climate cultists.
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
The U.K is so cute. They actually believe that what they do matters somehow.
“Here are the approximate percentages of global oil supply consumed annually by the UK, China, and India based on recent data (2022–2023):
United Kingdom (UK)
Consumption: ~1.2 million barrels per day (mb/d)
Global share: ~1.5% of world oil supply (~82 mb/d in 2023).
China
Consumption: ~16 mb/d
Global share: ~19.5% of world oil supply.
India
Consumption: ~5.3 mb/d
Global share: ~6.5% of world oil supply.
At its peak in 1922, the British Empire was the largest empire in human history, covering 24% of the earth’s land area and ruling over 458 million people—23% of the global population.
Today Britain covers 0.2% of the earth’s land area and rules over less than 0.9% of the world’s population.
It used to be said that the sun never sets on the British Empire. Today it is more like the sun never rises on the tiny little darkened territory.
The only reason that their leaders will allow development of this gas field is because they haven’t figured out yet how to keep warmth and electricity flowing to their own homes and businesses while restricting it to those of their smelly subjects (not citizens).
When they get this figured out, you can be sure it’s back to Net Zero.
Net zero and proposed total reliance on renewable energy is laughable!
One of the major issues we have here in the UK is the same for most of the Western Hemisphere. In our rush to become carbon neutral we shut down the very places we require to benefit from drilling in the North Sea, refineries!!
Without refineries they might as well just p1ss against the wind and hope it doesn’t rain.
The least the climate change enthusiasts could have done would have been to support Gen IV nuclear. But that would go a long way towards solving a problem they want to have.
It seems a winter of soaring energy prices, rolling blackouts and a crashing economy have sharpened some peoples minds over there. At least for now.
Natural gas can also be burned at point of use, rather than for centralized electric generation.
Back when I looked, the heuristic was about 50% injected at point of generation, available at point of use. Indeed, I’m so old I recall when room temperature superconductors were the desperately needed new, new thing, because of the transmission demands of making more things electric.