We are already suffering from severe austerity after the collapse in 2008. Pay for the bottom 70% of people in the Western World falls further and further behind.

The present political mess, including in the US and in the UK, and across Europe is clear fall-out from these problems.

In this context, imposing further high-taxes to restrict energy use is political suicide, and simply won't happen.

In the longer-term, moving to wind and solar will help, especially as energy storage technologies improve. Countries such as Spain and Portugal are showing us the way in this respect.