Badenoch told to steer Tories away from Trump's 'anti-green agenda'

Kemi Badenoch is being urged to steer clear of aping Donald Trump's 'anti-green agenda' by Tory grandees who warn that it could hamper the party's electoral recovery.

A trio of former Cabinet ministers today urged the new party leader to distance it from the president-elect's 'drill, baby, drill', warning that while it may have worked in the US it will 'alienate' a majority of British voters.

Sir Robert Buckland,  Sir Simon Clarke and Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who between them span the ideological width of the Conservative Party, spoke out ahead of Trump taking office for the second time in January.

He has repeatedly referred to climate change as a 'hoax' and has also vowed to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement, which commits it to cutting greenhouse emissions as part of the effort to curb global warming.'

While he has promised to provide 'crystal clean' water and 'the cleanest' air as part of his environmental priorities he widely views the US Environmental Protection Agency as a hindrance to economic growth. And he is a strong proponent of fracking.

Sir Simon, who was a rightwing Cabinet minister under both Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, said: 'President Trump has won a historic victory, responding to voters' concerns on issues ranging from illegal immigration to the state of the economy.

'But the President's anti-green agenda would alienate the majority of British voters. 

'We should of course make sure we decarbonise in the most cost effective way, and campaign to replace Ed Miliband's hair-shirted statism - which has already sadly set in motion great and unnecessary harm - with market solutions.

'But overt climate scepticism would make us a protest party, would ignore the major national security concerns inherent in leaving the UK dependent on foreign oil and gas and would not help to bring the Conservatives back to power.

'So we must learn the right lessons from the American election, and listen to the British public first and foremost.'

Ms Badenoch made former health secretary Victoria Atkins her  shadow environment minister after winning the Tory leadership earlier this month.

She has yet to set out the opposition's environmental position, but suggested during the party conference in September she would review the target set by Mr Johnson of the UK hitting Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050.

In an interview on the main stage she said: 'Setting a target without a plan doesn't make sense, we do it again and again and we have to stop it.'

She added: 'We are Conservatives, of course we want a better environment, we have been the party of the environment for much longer than anyone else, but we also need to make sure that we do so in a way that doesn't bankrupt our country.

'There's no point being the first to get to Net Zero, if we're also the first to get bankrupt, nobody's going to follow us – let's start with a proper plan.'

Among Trump's early moves has been a decision to choose fossil fuel executive Liberty Energy's Chris Wright as energy secretary, subject to congressional approval. 

Wright has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change, and he could give fossil fuels a boost, including quick action to end a year-long pause on natural gas export approvals by the Biden administration.

He has called climate change activists alarmist and has likened efforts by Democrats to combat global warming to Soviet-style communism.

'There is no climate crisis, and we're not in the midst of an energy transition, either,' Wright said in a video posted to his LinkedIn profile last year.

Wright, who does not have any political experience, has written extensively on the need for more fossil fuel production to lift people out of poverty.

He also picked former New York congressman Lee Zeldin to be his next Environmental Protection Agency administrator.

However Mr Buckland, the former Justice and Wales Secretary who backed Kamala Harris at the election, said: 'Trump's anti-green agenda is the last thing our party needs. 

'The majority of people in every constituency in the country want climate action. They may question the best approach, but the goal must remain the same.

If we adopt ''drill, baby, drill'' when it comes to the environment, we will never rebuild trust with the party and only show ourselves as out of touch. 

'Not only is fracking incredibly difficult in such a densely populated country, but our North Sea reserves are running low. If we want energy independence, our salvation lies with renewables and nuclear.'

Ms Trevelyan, the former transport secretary, added: 'Under successive Conservative governments, we have led the world in the Net Zero journey. Under a Trump administration, the Conservatives should seek to work hand in hand with Republicans to champion free-market, climate policies that grow the economy today and leave a better world for our children tomorrow.

'We have paved a route Trump and conservatives in America can follow.'