Conservative sources confirmed that the controversial minister, a holdover from the Boris Johnson government, would act as a junior minister in addition to his new role as business secretary. Two Conservative MPs are already understood to have turned down the role of energy secretary, while incumbent Greg Hunts has not been told whether he will stay on and the future of Cop26 chairman Alok Sharma is unclear. Chris Skidmore, the former energy secretary, was approached twice by the Truss team about reprising the role. However, he turned them down as, unlike last time, work did not allow him to attend the cabinet. It is understood that he had no problem working with Rees-Mogg, but wanted to continue to promote the net zero. He also has a scholarship to Harvard. The Green Conservatives admitted concerns that Rees-Mogg’s extended brief signals that Truss, who has backed scrapping green taxes and bringing back fracking, will not see climate collapse as an emergency and therefore not address it as a priority. Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion Caroline Lucas tweeted: “After three years with a reckless self-promoting Prime Minister, Liz Truss reportedly intends to lead us into the biggest energy crisis in decades by making Jacob Rees-Mogg – known for his long-winded memos to civil servants. , horizontal leaning in the Commons and devotion to fossil fuels – our energy secretary.’ Rees-Mogg claimed that “climate alarmism” is responsible for high energy prices and that it is unrealistic for scientists to predict future climate changes because forecasters struggle to get the weather right. The new business secretary said in April that the government wants “every last drop” of oil and gas extracted from the North Sea, as he rejected warnings that a new push for fossil fuels would destroy the UK’s chances of achieving net zero by in 2050. The cabinet minister also described the idea of restarting shale gas sites as “quite an interesting opportunity”, comparing the threat of fracking to “a rockfall in a disused coal mine”. Senior Tories admitted they were worried about Rees-Mogg’s appointment, with one former minister saying it was “not very encouraging”, but that they hoped he would stick to Johnson’s pledge to reach net zero emissions by 2050. One Tory MP suggested it was a “small hope” that the new Business Secretary would recognize that tackling climate change was “an opportunity, not a cost”. A former No 10 councilor said: “I always think it’s better with the devil you know with Tory MPs and we might be about to find out. Unfortunately, the climate is now at stake. Jacob would be so bad for the environment it breaks my heart.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Rhys Mogg’s allies dismissed Tory MPs’ concerns as misplaced as senior Tories had committed to net zero by 2050. There were also signs that Truss’ new No 10 could downgrade tackling the climate crisis as a priority with Matthew Sinclair, her new chief economic adviser, having a history of arguing against taxation to pay for environmental policies. Sinclair is the author of a book called Let Them Eat Carbon, which questions whether policies to tackle climate change are worth the cost to living standards, and papers such as The Case Against Further Green Taxes. A former chief executive of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, a right-wing free-market think tank that does not disclose its funding, Sinclair has previously criticized the UK government for being “enthusiastic advocates for more ambitious targets and draconian climate regulation”, while supporting more mitigation or adaptation.
