The UK’s Net Zero strategy didn’t begin with wind farms or slogans — it began with one law.In this Loud & Clear Deep Dive (runtime 18 : 13), we go back to Ed Miliband’s 2008 Climate Change Act, the legislation critics now call “the original sin” of British energy policy.That Act legally bound every future government to hit emission-cutting targets without setting a cost cap or escape clause.The government’s own impact statement admitted the benefits hadn’t even been monetised.Parliament effectively signed a blank cheque — and the bill is now coming due.What this episode covers🔹 The “double-bill” energy system — paying wind farms to switch off in Scotland because cables south are jammed, then paying gas plants to fire up in England to replace that lost power.🔹 How constraint payments hit £ 393 million (2024) and total grid inefficiency cost almost £ 1 billion (2023).🔹 The Capacity Market: billions more each year to keep gas stations available as standby “inertia” for a fragile, inverter-dominated grid.🔹 Why electricity bills carry about 16 % in policy levies while gas carries only 5½ %, making the government’s own “electrify everything” plan economically incoherent.🔹 Carbon-leakage reality — factories shutting down or relocating overseas, £ 22 billion in lost output, and one-third of heavy industry considering relocation by 2015.🔹 Human cost — between 6 000 and 8 000 excess winter deaths each year linked to fuel poverty.🔹 The North Sea’s looming payout — oil firms reclaiming 40 – 75 % of decommissioning costs from HMRC, a taxpayer liability of £ 16 – 18 billion (possibly £ 25 billion).🔹 How a 78 % marginal tax rate pushes operators to close early, collapsing revenue and accelerating those refunds.🔹 Norway’s contrast — same sea, different outcome. Norway kept public stakes, built a £ 1 trillion sovereign fund; the UK privatised, over-taxed, and now pays the cleanup bill.🔹 The “missed-opportunity gap” — an estimated $ 400 billion in lost national wealth.Why this mattersNet Zero isn’t a destination problem — it’s a route-planning disaster.Britain legislated ideology before arithmetic, locking itself into a system where the grid is unstable, the taxpayer pays twice, and the supposed savings never arrive.If a climate policy exports emissions, bankrupts industry, and leaves pensioners freezing, can it still be called success?Featured analysis– Official Treasury, OBR, Ofgem and National Grid ESO data– Expert testimony from Kathryn Porter (Triggernometry Podcast: “This Isn’t Science, It’s Ideology”)– NotebookLM evidence packs: Net Zero Evidence Pack and The Great North Sea PayoutChapters00 : 00 – Intro – The Blank Check02 : 20 – The Grid’s Double Bill06 : 45 – The Capacity Market and Stealth Taxes10 : 30 – Carbon Leakage and Fuel Poverty13 : 40 – The North Sea Payout17 : 30 – Final Question – Ideology or Arithmetic?Produced by Loud & Clear (@Shout_Loud_Clear)Written & narrated by George McKenna.Hard facts, no spin, told straight.