- By any margin, New Englia has no formal right to claim any applause or accolades for environmental consciousness, nor for any sort of forward-thinking as it relates to the means by which the nation derives much of its electricity. Whilst numerous nations throughout the world have been gradually making their respective transitions away from fossil fuels, and aggressively pursuing “green agendas”, New Englia has bolted in the opposite direction. Whilst nations such as Lourenne, North Dovani, Loire and Tropica have made formidable leaps in their transitions from renewable energy, New Englia’s appetite for fossil fuels continued to grow as the nation saw a 35% increase in the importation of coal and natural gas from sources primarily outside of the Dovanian region, with some estimates projecting a 3-4% increase in the coming half-decade. Based on this trajectory, should New Englia continue along this path, the nation is expected to become one of eastern dovani’s largest carbon emitters. For the coalition comprising of the Labour Party and the eco-socialist Worker’s Party, the question of environmental sustainability, most notably on setting realistic and attainable targets for both carbon emission reduction and “green uptake”, takes centre stage. Compared to other nations on the continent, progress in creating a “Green New Englia” has been sluggish at best and near immobile at worse. In its report on the future of energy in New Englia, the Center for Public Policy Research posits that the historically strong coal and natural gas lobbies have stifled any meaningful movement towards a green transition under previous administrations. “The likelihood of a seamless transition to renewables is unlikely as those who have benefited from the status quo [notably the coal and natural gas lobbies] will be among the first to cast omens of doom and gloom at the prospect of a green economy,” the report read. It notes that as a result of persistent lobbying, environmental action groups have had little room to make the case for a green transition, let alone convince the government to at least commit to emissions and uptake targets, be they realistic or unrealistic. Alongside strong lobbying which one can only describe as a culture of corruption among the nation’s energy policymakers, the public perception of a green transition also plays a role in its undoing. For those working in the nation’s coal and natural gas-fired power plants, a green transition would mean unemployment as an immediate consequence of a green transition would be the scaling back of production and the subsequent decommissioning of said plants. For the communities which benefit from the business of these plants, be it directly through employment or indirectly through the provision of goods and services to said plants, this spells economic hardship and a potential backstepping in their standard of living and quality of life. This perception is reinforced by the fact that the environmentally moderate Labour party secured an absolute majority compared to the more aggressive/hardline Worker’s Party.
For the most part, New Englia has enjoyed a steady and near uninterrupted supply of both coal and natural gas from Aloria and Dorvik respectively, owing to the nation’s comfortable relationship with both nations. However, the means by which New Englia can access said coal and natural gas, namely via the use of foreign exchange is tightening. According to the Bank of New Englia, between energy imports and food imports, New Englia’s import cover (i.e. the amount of foreign currency the nation has to pay for imported goods and services) is shrinking. It noted that the previous price spike caused by the spat between Deltaria and Trigunia had drained a significant amount of the nation’s much-needed foreign reserves. “Although the economy has seen some (around 0.3%) economic growth in the previous decade on aggregate, such growth figures have had a minor impact on rebuilding the nation’s foreign exchange reserves,” the bank said. It warned that should another price spike occur over a sustained period of time, it could potentially cause a balance of payments crisis and would force the New Englian government to default on much of its foreign loans (they were themselves made out to be used to buy coal and natural gas). “New Englia services many of its loans using foreign exchange, and with coal and natural gas eating away at said reserves and leaving less for other important imports such as food, we are sleepwalking into a crisis of our own doing,” explained Tiernan Ahren, a researcher at the University of Ardue. It is against the backdrop of a potential balance of payments crisis, that the Labour party had campaigned for a “just transition” away from fossil fuels. “Apart from being beneficial to the environment, the use of renewable energy in New Englia gives us an opportunity to attain some semblance of energy security/independence as we will no longer become dependent on imports from extra-regional territories. By doing so we remove a unique vulnerability from the national economic psyche. With foreign exchange being freed up, we then seriously focus on improving our food security because similar to our energy situation, we have become far too dependent on food imports whilst our “food import bill” continues to increase and our foreign exchange reserves continue to shrink,” explained Ross O'Murry, a research with the Labour Party Research Group (LPRG). New Englia’s energy mix (as of 5218) is comprised of 54% gas, 25% coal, 17% peat and 4% other sources including minor renewable, namely hydroelectricity, wind and solar. If there is to be a green transition, there is certainly a lot of work to be done, notwithstanding the need for ambitious, yet realistic targets.