
Renewable Energy
I'll admit I'm a green person, in the local elections I vote green why? Because I agree with a lot of their policies (and they're backed by one of the non-extreme greenists)
But the greenfreaks don't seem to understand what they're doing. A lot of them hear "Lower CO2" and assume it's the way to go.
It's like a company hearing "New processor architecture which COULD potentially surpass x86 in a few years, but for now costs twice the amount" and then replacing every PC in their office knowing a more power efficient, faster and cheaper model is due in 10 years.
The UK is one of the few countries that could POTENTIALLY become self sufficient on energy, not purely on renewable sources but in certain areas. The sad part is it would cost a lot to do, and rather than laying out a large cost to get a big benefit, we're paying out a large cost for a smaller benefit because the greenies are shooting themselves in the foot.
Tidal and Hydro are the two which could generate most power, and they're in a fairly 'complete' state.
Wind farms are unreliable and expensive, we'd be better off putting them out to sea (possibly in the same places as the tidal power could be generated, which could be further improved with artificial reefs)
Solar panels have potential, but right now they're highly inefficient. When we have a few more years and they become more efficient (and hopefully cheaper) it'd be nice to see them on all new builds, but right now solar is fairly pointless in comparison.
The only remaining thing is giving a small discount on energy efficient goods. You want to buy that plamsa? That's nice, it's a good TV, cheap, but it draws power like a drain. Why not get this nice LED screen instead? Uses only a quarter of the power.
On that note I decided a while ago when I finally get my own place (only a matter of time going by my savings account0 I'd be buying things based on energy efficiency. An extra £50 here and there on the initial purchase sure, but that's pay for itself over the years in energy bills. Especially at current rates.