John Constable
Credentials
- B.A., English, Magdalene College, Cambridge.1 โDebate: Blackouts or breaking the rules, is UK electricity in jeopardy?โ Renewable Energy Foundation. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/1fOCu. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- Ph.D., English, Cambridge University.2 โDebate: Blackouts or breaking the rules, is UK electricity in jeopardy?โ Renewable Energy Foundation. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/1fOCu. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
Background
John Constable is the Energy Editor of the Global Warming Policy Forum, campaign arm of the climate science denial group the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF). Constable was appointed to the position five months before joining the GWPFโs Academic Advisory Council.3 โWho we are,โ Global Warming Policy Forum. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/m93oU 4 Kyla Mandel. โAnti-Wind Campaigner John Constable Joins Lord Lawsonโs Climate Sceptic GWPF Think Tank,โ DeSmog, February 16, 2016. 5 โJohn Constable joins GWPFโS Academic Advisory Council,โ Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/BsAug
Constable previously had privileged access to parliament by being registered as a member of staff for another GWPF academic advisory council member, Viscount Matt Ridley, from June 2017. Constableโs accreditation lists him as director of TAXA publishing and does not mention his role with the GWPF.6 โRegister of Interests of Lords Members’ Staff โ by Member’s name: letter R,โ Parliament. Archived June 18, 2017. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
Constable has been a vocal critic of government energy policy and has long opposed subsidies for renewable energy. He was chairman of a local anti-wind farm campaign group called NOWAP until it was dissolved in 2014.7 John Constable. โWe’re not anti-wind farms – but they should be offshore,โ The Guardian, January 11, 2007. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/rjjgg 8 โTurbines go-ahead for Suffolk wind farm,โ National Wind Watch, July 27, 2007. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/Od52q 9 โNOWAP stands for NO WIND FARM AT PARHAM,โ NOWAP, March 2005. Archived October 20, 2013. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. 10 โNOWAP LTD: Filing history,โ Companies House. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/KET8m
Constable came under fire in 2015 when it was revealed he would be heading a new research unit called the Buckingham Energy Institute at the private University of Buckingham, which the free-market think-tank, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), was influential in establishing.11 Tom Bawden. โBritain’s leading private university โbecoming a mouthpiece for fossil-fuel industryโ,โ The Independent, March 30, 2015. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/UeRYq 12 Chris Parr. โAnthony Seldon to be next Buckingham v-c,โ Times Higher Education, April 16, 20015. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/pGguf. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
Constable has written for the think-tank Civitas on environmental policy, claiming that a shift to renewable power would make the economy stagnate. A 2013 report by Constable was dismissed by the Department for Energy and Climate Change as a โmanifesto for imported gas,โ rejecting the argument that energy bills would soar due to green policies.13 John Constable. โAre Green Times Just Around the Corner?โ Civitas: ideas for economic growth, Issue 6, May 2013. Archived January 23, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. 14 Will Nichols. โDECC slams Civitas ‘manifesto for imported gas’,โ BusinessGreen, May 17, 2013. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/aNlDz. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
Along with the GWPF, Civitas is among the cluster of organisations based at 55 Tufton Street which broadly share a pro-deregulation, free-market outlook, and have been heavily involved in campaigning for Brexit.15 Kyla Mandel. โMapped: The Cosy Climate-Euro Sceptic Bubble Pushing for Brexit and Less Climate Action,โ DeSmog, June 13, 2016.
Renewable Energy Foundation
Constable was previously Director of Policy and Research at the anti-wind energy campaign group, the Renewable Energy Foundation, whose funding sources are currently unknown. A 2011 report by Constable was funded by ScottishPower Energy People Trust and a 2012 report was commissioned by Calor Gas Ltd. TV presenter Noel Edmonds set up the group and served as chairman when his Devon home became threatened by a windfarm development.16 Leo Hickman. โWill the real Renewable Energy Foundation please stand up?โ The Guardian, May 18, 2011. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/q2lE0 17 Tom Bawden. โBritain’s leading private university โbecoming a mouthpiece for fossil-fuel industryโ,โ The Independent, March 30, 2015. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/UeRYq 18 John Constable. โShortfall, rebound, backfire,โ Renewable Energy Foundation, 2012. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/0Q7MX 19 โEnergy Policy and Consumer Hardship,โ Renewable Energy Foundation, 2011. Archived February 11, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. 20 Mike Swain. โNoel Edmonds on how the Government is ignoring the energy crisis,โ The Mirror, February 3, 2012. Archived January 30, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/0hNqU
The Renewable Energy Foundation was the subject of a complaint related to its campaigning activities which led to a meeting with the Charity Commission to โdiscuss amending its objects to accurately reflect the charity’s activities and purposes.โ21 Leo Hickman. โWill the real Renewable Energy Foundation please stand up?โ The Guardian, May 18, 2011. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/q2lE0
Stance on Climate Change
January 19, 2021
Constable wrote an article for the Global Warming Policy Foundation criticising the governmentโs plans to build an offshore wind farm off the Norfolk and Yorkshire coasts, claiming that it would lead to the extinction of the Kittiwake bird. He stated:22 John Constable. โKittiwake extinction risk and the death of environmentalism,โ The Global Warming Policy Foundation, January 19, 2021. Archived January 19, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/ZpGrb
โEnvironmentalism may seem to be triumphant at present, but in fact it is in a state of physical and moral collapse, being pushed back in fragile marine ecologies, in remote wilderness and in unique environments around the world by metal bashers and concrete pourers building the โlow-carbon economyโ. And so-called environmentalists are helping them in a grim bureaucratic parody of sincere love for the natural world. Environmentalism is dead.โ
The Foundationโs Director, Benny Peiser, also wrote a letter to Sir David Attenborough calling for him to intervene to reverse the governmentโs decision, claiming that the government had โset aside the protection afforded by Natura 2000 to the resting and nesting sites of Kittiwake on the East Coast,โ and that the decision โsets a distorting and irrational precedent.”23 Benny Peiser. โDangerous precedent of consent for Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm & Kittiwake extinction risk,โ The Global Warming Policy Foundation, January 19, 2021. Archived January 19, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/QsWcV
April 2016
When asked during a government committee session whether the country might go back to carbon-based energy generation, Constable stated: โIt is entirely conceivableโฆ I am certain we will need to build combined cycle gas turbines.โ24 Kyla Mandel. โMPs Slam Anti-Wind Power Campaigners: You Seriously Want To Go Back to Fossil Fuels?โ DeSmog, April 13, 2016.
March 30, 2015
Responding to criticism of his track record on campaigning against renewable energy, Constable told the Independent:25 Tom Bawden. โBritain’s leading private university โbecoming a mouthpiece for fossil-fuel industryโ,โ The Independent, March 30, 2015. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/UeRYq
โThere is a strong case for reducing emissions as part of an insurance policy against climate change. However, the premium for that insurance policy must be affordable and proportional to the risk.โ 26 Tom Bawden. โBritain’s leading private university โbecoming a mouthpiece for fossil-fuel industryโ,โ The Independent, March 30, 2015. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/UeRYq
June 2012
In a debate on wind power, Constable accused the green movement of โbullying OECD governments into adopting legal mandates for low carbon solutions that are technically primitive and consequently ludicrously expensive.โ27 โCheltenham Science Festival Wind Power Debate,โ Renewable Energy Foundation, June 12, 2012. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/xokXZ
Key Quotes
August 10, 2017
In an article entitled โThe Scottish wind power racketโ, co-written with Matt Ridley and published on the CapX website, run by the Thatcherite Centre for Policy Studies think tank, Constable claimed wind farms โarenโt welcomeโ in Scotland, arguing that โthe Government in Westminster should put its foot down, in the interests of us all, and stop Holyrood consenting new wind farms and extensions in Scotland.โ28 John Constable, Matt Ridley. โThe Scottish wind power racket,โ CapX, August 10, 2017. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/afKe5
February 2016
In an article entitled โRevealed: the great wind farm tax ‘con’โ Constable told the Sunday Telegraph that government support for onshore wind power is โjust spin doctor stuff, itโs playing with words.โ Constable had recently joined the Global Warming Policy Forum as energy editor.29 Emily Gosden. โRevealed: the great wind farm tax ‘con’,โ The Telegraph, February 13, 2016. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/E8aUP
May 2013
In a Civitas report Constable states that shifting to renewable energy would mean, โmore people would be working for lower wages in the energy sector, energy costs would rise, the economy would stagnate, and there would be a significant decline in the standard of living.โ30 John Constable. โAre Green Times Just Around the Corner?โ Civitas: ideas for economic growth, Issue 6, May 2013. Archived January 23, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
Key Actions
May 7, 2025
E&E News reported Bjorn Lomborg, Alex Epstein, Roy Spencer, and John Constable as โfour influencers who have helped shape [Chris] Wrightโs approach to climate and energy.โ31Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
E&E news reported that โmany of his [Wrightโs] talking points spring from a broad network of conservative activists and influencers.โ32Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
โTheir approach has been described by critics as a new kind of climate denialism. One that doesnโt dispute that global warming is real but rather frames it as a lesser problem โ often with the use of cherry-picked data and a misrepresentation of scientific findings,โ E&E News reported.33Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
โโHe pretty much claims that there is no evidence that burning fossil fuels would lead to, you know, deleterious effects, bad effects on the climate, and itโs just not true,โ said Colorado State University climate scientist Scott Denning.34Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
E&E News noted that Bjorn Lomborg โhas been called a โfriendโ by Wright and was cited in his โBettering Human Livesโ report.โ35Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
โLomborg acknowledges that climate change is occurring but he has made a career of attacking clean energy by making claims that it is unreliable and โhurts the poorโ,โ E&E News reported.36Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
Roy Spencerโs work was cited as a resource in Wrightโs report. โ[H]e has attacked federal climate researchers as being biased because they receive taxpayer money, and he has claimed that people alive today wonโt experience global warming,โ E&E News noted, adding โSpencer also served as a visiting fellow for the Heritage Foundation, which produced the Project 2025 policy proposal that has guided the first months of President Donald Trumpโs second term.โ37Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
E&E News noted that both Wright and Alex Epstein like to use the phrase โhuman flourishingโ in reference to oil and gas. Wright appeared on an episode of Epsteinโs โPower Hourโ podcast.38Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
Wright hosted John Constable at a 2022 event where he called him an โenergy scholarโ and top energy system analyst. He also said constable was an editor of his โBettering Human Livesโ report.39Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
โIn his presentation, Constable suggested that Bidenโs Inflation Reduction Act, which contained almost $400 billion in clean energy incentives and spending, could create conditions in the U.S. within a decade that would be akin to the Great Depression,โ E&E News reported.40Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
June 1, 2021
Constable wrote a report for the Global Warming Policy Foundation which argued that building large scale solar panel farms on agricultural land should be discouraged. The report claimed that โCurrent guidance in the planning system relating to ground-mounted solar projects is around ten years old and obsolete.โ It also cautioned that โConversion of agricultural land to solar photovoltaic generation on the scales described above is not in the public interest.โ41 John Constable. โThe Case for Reform of Solar Energy Planning Guidance,โ The Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived June 1, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/2duGZ
May 29, 2021
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Constable was quoted in an article criticising the expansion of solar panel farms, which it described as โwoefully inefficient at their only job โ which is to generate electricity amid the cloud and rain of north-west Europeโ. The article quoted Constable as saying: โThe net-zero drive is so insensitive to cost and environmental damage, a lot of very strange things are happening.โ He added: โWe’re preparing to lose a large part of British farmland to a second-rate electricity scheme.โ42 Amy Oliver, Simon Trump. โA toxic blot on the landscape: Solar farms are ruining views and causing misery for residents – and, critics say, they’re filled with noxious chemicals, many are made by Chinese prisoners… and don’t even work in gloomy British weather,โ The Mail on Sunday, May 29, 2021. Archived June 1, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/lxj5Z
Constable also argued that establishing solar farms functioned as a pretext for profiteering developers to accrue large tracts of land and obtain batteries to store power, stating: โThese batteries can store solar power, but owners will also use them to buy and store energy from the Grid when it’s cheap and then resell for a much higher price when it’s in demand.โ He added: โ’The fact it is very expensive for the consumer is neither here nor there. The solar schemes are almost incidental.โ
February 23, 2021
Constable wrote a report for the Global Warming Policy Foundation which criticised a Statutory Regulation which had come into force in April 2019, making it illegal for businesses to misreport their carbon dioxide emissions. Constable stated: โCriminalisation is disproportionate to the magnitude of the breach of regulations, discourages entrepreneurial activity, increases business overheads, and creates a legal pressure point for vexatious โlawfare.โโ43 John Constable. โA Little Nudge With A Big Stick,โ The Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived February 23, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/xeMod
The press release accompanying the report quoted the GWPFโs Director, Benny Peiser, who criticised the Conservative Party for implementing this legislation. He stated: โThe Conservatives are still widely seen as supporters of entrepreneurial private ownership. In reality they have often pursued a quasi-socialist agenda that puts climate activists first. This legislation is deeply illiberal and a threat to future investment, innovation and economic growth in the UK.โ44 (Press Release.) โThousands of UK businesses are at risk of becoming โcarbon criminals,โ The Global Warming Policy Foundation, February 23, 2021. Archived February 23, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/JrZsb
February 11, 2021
Constable wrote an article for The National Review criticising US President Joe Bidenโs plans to double offshore wind power by 2030. Constable argued that the Biden administration had underestimated the costs of wind energy expansion, writing: โThe real puzzle here is how first-class scientific nations could have gone so far down a road that is intrinsically, physically, without strong promise.โ He added: โLarge capital expenditure and operating costs, as well as significant grid costs, are inevitable if governments insist on making the sowโs ear of wind into the silk purse of modern energy.โ45 โU.S. Offshore Wind Prospects: Overblown Promises and Blown-Up Costs,โ The National Review, February 11, 2021. Archived February 15, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/Nl1JG
Constable also cited a report from UK Charity the Renewable Energy Foundation, which argued that predictions showing falling costs in wind energy were โthe product of wishful thinking applied to notional projects in the future with little or no connection to commercial realityโ.46 Gordon Hughes. โWind Power Economics โ Rhetoric and Reality,โ The Renewable Energy Foundation, November 3, 2020. Archived February 15, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/NJHFt
January 5, 2021
In an article for The Conservative Woman, the Global Warming Policy Foundationโs Energy Editor John Constable criticised the costs of Prime Minister Boris Johnsonโs plans to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, writing: โMr Johnsonโs administration, in common with every UK government from Mr Blair to Mrs May, is failing to sanity-check the emissions reduction policies and is, indeed, quite deliberately avoiding the subject. This is all the more reprehensible because the sanity check isnโt that difficult.โ47 John Constable. โJohnsonโs crazy Net Zero drive will cost so much more than it saves,โ The Conservative Woman, January 5, 2021. Archived January 5, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/5f7Ng
Constable cited a December paper he wrote for the Global Warming Policy Foundation, which stated: โEven assuming, as the government wrongly does, that offshore wind is already inexpensive and will become still cheaper in coming decades, the abatement costs per tonne of carbon dioxide are many times higher than mainstream estimates of the harms of climate change.โ Constable also stated that the governmentโs policies would cause โterrible socio-economic harmโ.48 John Constable. โWho are they fooling? The UK Energy White Paper 2020,โ The Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived January 5, 2020. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/Opilr
October 14, 2019
Constable wrote a post claiming that renewables subsidies were costing UK households an average of ยฃ340 each. An article by the GWPF’s Deputy Director Andrew Montford based on the research was published on the right-wing blog site the Conservative Woman the following day.49 John Constable. โCurrent Costs of British Renewables Subsidies per Household,โ GWPF, October 14, 2019. Archived October 15, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/et4bp 50 โOn your utility bill, the soaring price of green gesture politics,โ Conservative Woman, October 15, 2019. Archived October 15, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/TCPXx
He ended by saying:
โItโs worth remembering why we are doing this. Itโs certainly not going to make any difference to the Earthโs temperature: our carbon dioxide emissions are a tiny fraction of the global total, and smaller than annual increases in China and India. No, we are doing this as a gesture: a way to show our leadership on climate change, setting an example to the rest of the world.โ
In August, the GWPF announced one of the editors of the Conservative Woman, Kathy Gyngell, had joined its board of trustees.51 Richard Collett-White. โCambridge Professor and Anti-BBC Campaigner Join Board of Climate Science Denial Campaign Group,โ DeSmog, August 9, 2019.
October 9, 2020
Constable was quoted in a Daily Mail article which criticised Prime Minister Boris Johnson‘s proposal to power every home in Britain with offshore wind energy by 2030. Constable, who the article referred to as a โgreen energy expert,โ reportedly stated: โThe civil service error created a licence to print money. These small 250kW turbines have been obsolete for years and nobody would have built them at the time, except as a loophole cash cow. They’re a terrible value for public subsidy, but an absolute goldmine for investors.โ52 Sam Greenhill. โWindfarm farce that blew ยฃ1.4billion of YOUR money! As Boris Johnson trumpets his vision of powering every home with turbines, we reveal the botched scheme that will inflate bills for 20 YEARS,โThe Daily Mail, October 9, 2020. Archived November 30, 2020. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/qlkOz
March 15, 2020
Writing for the Global Warming Policy Foundation, Constable criticised the governmentโs plans for carbon taxation, which included raising fuel taxes on diesel vehicles for parts of the construction industry, in its March 2020 budget, writing:53 John Constable. โThe UKโs March 2020 Budget: Red Diesel and the Dawn of Carbon Taxation,โ The Global Warming Policy Forum, March 15, 2020. Archived December 15, 2020. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/24TGK
โThere will consequently be a pressure to either increase local authority revenue from council tax and central government grant funding, or to cut back on infrastructure development and maintenance. Neither of these options will be popular, but that is the character of carbon taxation. It brings out and identifies the full cost of climate policies. Everything becomes visibly more expensive.โ
May 11, 2019
Constable wrote an article for the Global Warming Policy Forum entitled โIs the Long Renewables Honeymoon Over?โ Constable argued that the renewables industry was suffering โdeep-seated structuro-physical weakness,โ outlining problems being experienced in the wind energy industry. He ended the article by saying: โOne explanation, the sole necessary one in my view, is that the physics is against this industry, and that the physics is beginning to tell.โ54 John Constable. โIs the Long Renewables Honeymoon Over?โ Global Warming Policy Foundation, May 11, 2019. Archived June 20, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/KbWAU
June 14, 2018
Constable spoke in a Financial Times energy summit debate, opposing the motion, โFossil fuels are doomed,โ stating that โfor my own part I suspect renewables really are doomed, on physical grounds, and that the axe of thermodynamic reality is already falling.โ55 John Constable. โSpeech at the Financial Times energy summit,โ Global Warming Policy Forum, June 20, 2018. Archived January 23, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
June 6, 2018
Constable wrote an article for CapX criticising the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm, despite having stated in a 2007 Guardian comment article that he was โnot anti-wind farms โ but they should be offshore.โ56 John Constable, โRampion wind farm is a black hole for taxpayersโ money,โ CapX, June 6, 2018. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/sUgK9 57 John Constable. โWe’re not anti-wind farms – but they should be offshore,โ The Guardian, January 11, 2007. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/rjjgg
April 25, 2018
Constable was quoted in a Daily Mail article by long-time climate science denier James Delingpole as saying wind energy will never be a solution โbecause of fundamental physicsโ and that the industry merely โgives the illusion that there has been massive technological progress.โ58 James Delingpole. โThe world’s biggest wind turbine โ nearly three times the height of Big Ben โ is to be built off the North-East coastโฆ but JAMES DELINGPOLE says the idea these giants will solve our energy problems is simply hot air,โ Daily Mail, April 25, 2018. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/UPhtz
June 28, 2016
Constable joined the Global Warming Policy Foundationโs โAcademic Advisory Councilโ.59 โJohn Constable joins GWPFโS Academic Advisory Council,โ Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/BsAug
April 2016
Constable appeared in front of the House of Lordsโ Scottish Affairs committee, and said it is โentirely conceivableโ the UK will return to carbon-based power generation despite government support for renewables. The GWPF, Scotland Against Spin and the Scientific Alliance Scotland also gave evidence during the session.60 Kyla Mandel. โMPs Slam Anti-Wind Power Campaigners: You Seriously Want To Go Back to Fossil Fuels?โ DeSmog, April 13, 2016.
February 2016
Constable is quoted in the Sunday Telegraph article titled โRevealed: the great wind farm tax โconโโ criticising the Department of Energy and Climate Changeโs (DECC) re-examination of public funding for onshore wind. 61 Emily Gosden. โRevealed: the great wind farm tax ‘con’,โ The Telegraph, February 13, 2016. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/E8aUP
January 31, 2016
Constable was appointed energy editor of the Global Warming Policy Forum, the campaign wing of climate science denial thinktank, the Global Warming Policy Foundation.62 โJohn Constable joins GWPF as Energy Editor,โ Global Warming Policy Forum, 31 January, 2016. Archived January 31, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/kQMPo
March 30, 2015
The Independent reported Constable was to head-up a new Energy Institute at the University of Buckingham โ the UKโs only private university, which has strong ties to the Global Warming Policy Foundation. The institute has yet to be set up.63 Tom Bawden. โBritain’s leading private university โbecoming a mouthpiece for fossil-fuel industryโ,โ The Independent, March 30, 2015. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/UeRYq
May 2013
Constable authored a paper called โAre Green Times Just Around the Corner?โ for right-leaning thinktank Civitas, saying a shift to renewable power would make the economy stagnate.64 John Constable. โAre Green Times Just Around the Corner?โ Civitas: ideas for economic growth, Issue 6, May 2013. Archived January 23, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
June 13, 2012
Constable took part in a debate on wind power at the Cheltenham Science Festival, speaking against the motion, โThis house believes that Britain should be a fan of wind energy.โ In his address, he accused the green movement of โbullying OECD governments into adopting legal mandates for low carbon solutions that are technically primitive and consequently ludicrously expensive.โ65 โCheltenham Science Festival Wind Power Debate,โ Renewable Energy Foundation, June 12, 2012. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/xokXZ
Also speaking against the motion was Ben Pile, ex-researcher for UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom and co-founder of the Climate Resistance blog which rejects the scientific consensus on climate change.66 โCheltenham Science Festival Wind Power Debate,โ Renewable Energy Foundation, June 12, 2012. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/xokXZ
August 2011
Constable authored a paper entitled The Green Mirage for right-leaning thinktank Civitas, arguing that โtarget-led, state-managed and subsidy-driven clean energy policies are likely to cause the premature adoption of costly technologies exhibiting low productivity, with resulting net economic contraction and wealth destruction.โ67 John Constable. โThe Green Mirage: Why the low carbon economy may be further off than we think,โ Civitas, 2011. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
Affiliations
- Global Warming Policy Forum โ Energy Editor.68 โWho we are,โ Global Warming Policy Forum. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/m93oU
- Global Warming Policy Foundation โ Academic Advisory Council Member.69 โJohn Constable joins GWPFโS Academic Advisory Council,โ Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/BsAug
- Lord Matt Ridley โ Registered member of staff in Parliament.70 โRegister of Interests of Lords Members’ Staff โ by Member’s name: letter R,โ Parliament. Archived June 18, 2017. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- University of Buckingham โ Head of Buckingham Energy Institute (yet to be launched).71 Tom Bawden. โBritain’s leading private university โbecoming a mouthpiece for fossil-fuel industryโ,โ The Independent, March 30, 2015. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/UeRYq
- Renewable Energy Foundation โ Former director of policy and research.72 Leo Hickman. โWill the real Renewable Energy Foundation please stand up?โ The Guardian, May 18, 2011. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/q2lE0
- Civitas โ Report writer.73 John Constable. โAre Green Times Just Around the Corner?โ Civitas: ideas for economic growth, Issue 6, May 2013. Archived January 23, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- NOWAP โ Chairman.74 โTurbines go-ahead for Suffolk wind farm,โ National Wind Watch, July 27, 2007. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/Od52q
Social Media
- John Constable does not appear to be active on social media.
Publications
- โRenewables and climate policy are on a collision course,โ Global Warming Policy Forum, December 9, 2018.
- John Constable, Gordon Hughes. โEmissions and economy in the UK: shining example or dismal lesson?โ Global Warming Policy Forum, October 17, 2018.
- โSpeech at the Financial Times energy summit,โ Global Warming Policy Forum, June 20, 2018.
- โLabourโs energy nationalisation plans,โ Global Warming Policy Forum, February 18, 2018.
- โOur data shows that climate policies aren’t working. Why does that scare our opponents?โ The Telegraph, April 2, 2015.
- โAre Green Times Just Around the Corner?โ Civitas: ideas for economic growth, Issue 6, May 2013.
- โShortfall, Rebound, Backfire: Can we rely on energy efficiency to offset climate policy costs?โ Renewable Energy Foundation, 2012.
- โThe Green Mirage: Why the low carbon economy may be further off than we think,โ Civitas, 2011.
- โEnergy Policy and Consumer Hardship,โ Renewable Energy Foundation, 2011.
- โWe’re not anti-wind farms – but they should be offshore,โ The Guardian, January 11, 2007.
Other Resources
- โRenewable Energy Foundation,โ Wikipedia
- โRenewable Energy Foundation,โ Sourcewatch
Photo: Screengrab via Parliament TV
Resources
- 1โDebate: Blackouts or breaking the rules, is UK electricity in jeopardy?โ Renewable Energy Foundation. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/1fOCu. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 2โDebate: Blackouts or breaking the rules, is UK electricity in jeopardy?โ Renewable Energy Foundation. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/1fOCu. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 3โWho we are,โ Global Warming Policy Forum. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/m93oU
- 4Kyla Mandel. โAnti-Wind Campaigner John Constable Joins Lord Lawsonโs Climate Sceptic GWPF Think Tank,โ DeSmog, February 16, 2016.
- 5โJohn Constable joins GWPFโS Academic Advisory Council,โ Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/BsAug
- 6โRegister of Interests of Lords Members’ Staff โ by Member’s name: letter R,โ Parliament. Archived June 18, 2017. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 7John Constable. โWe’re not anti-wind farms – but they should be offshore,โ The Guardian, January 11, 2007. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/rjjgg
- 8โTurbines go-ahead for Suffolk wind farm,โ National Wind Watch, July 27, 2007. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/Od52q
- 9โNOWAP stands for NO WIND FARM AT PARHAM,โ NOWAP, March 2005. Archived October 20, 2013. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 10โNOWAP LTD: Filing history,โ Companies House. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/KET8m
- 11Tom Bawden. โBritain’s leading private university โbecoming a mouthpiece for fossil-fuel industryโ,โ The Independent, March 30, 2015. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/UeRYq
- 12Chris Parr. โAnthony Seldon to be next Buckingham v-c,โ Times Higher Education, April 16, 20015. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/pGguf. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 13John Constable. โAre Green Times Just Around the Corner?โ Civitas: ideas for economic growth, Issue 6, May 2013. Archived January 23, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 14Will Nichols. โDECC slams Civitas ‘manifesto for imported gas’,โ BusinessGreen, May 17, 2013. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/aNlDz. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 15Kyla Mandel. โMapped: The Cosy Climate-Euro Sceptic Bubble Pushing for Brexit and Less Climate Action,โ DeSmog, June 13, 2016.
- 16Leo Hickman. โWill the real Renewable Energy Foundation please stand up?โ The Guardian, May 18, 2011. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/q2lE0
- 17Tom Bawden. โBritain’s leading private university โbecoming a mouthpiece for fossil-fuel industryโ,โ The Independent, March 30, 2015. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/UeRYq
- 18John Constable. โShortfall, rebound, backfire,โ Renewable Energy Foundation, 2012. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/0Q7MX
- 19โEnergy Policy and Consumer Hardship,โ Renewable Energy Foundation, 2011. Archived February 11, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 20Mike Swain. โNoel Edmonds on how the Government is ignoring the energy crisis,โ The Mirror, February 3, 2012. Archived January 30, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/0hNqU
- 21Leo Hickman. โWill the real Renewable Energy Foundation please stand up?โ The Guardian, May 18, 2011. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/q2lE0
- 22John Constable. โKittiwake extinction risk and the death of environmentalism,โ The Global Warming Policy Foundation, January 19, 2021. Archived January 19, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/ZpGrb
- 23Benny Peiser. โDangerous precedent of consent for Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm & Kittiwake extinction risk,โ The Global Warming Policy Foundation, January 19, 2021. Archived January 19, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/QsWcV
- 24Kyla Mandel. โMPs Slam Anti-Wind Power Campaigners: You Seriously Want To Go Back to Fossil Fuels?โ DeSmog, April 13, 2016.
- 25Tom Bawden. โBritain’s leading private university โbecoming a mouthpiece for fossil-fuel industryโ,โ The Independent, March 30, 2015. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/UeRYq
- 26Tom Bawden. โBritain’s leading private university โbecoming a mouthpiece for fossil-fuel industryโ,โ The Independent, March 30, 2015. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/UeRYq
- 27โCheltenham Science Festival Wind Power Debate,โ Renewable Energy Foundation, June 12, 2012. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/xokXZ
- 28John Constable, Matt Ridley. โThe Scottish wind power racket,โ CapX, August 10, 2017. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/afKe5
- 29Emily Gosden. โRevealed: the great wind farm tax ‘con’,โ The Telegraph, February 13, 2016. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/E8aUP
- 30John Constable. โAre Green Times Just Around the Corner?โ Civitas: ideas for economic growth, Issue 6, May 2013. Archived January 23, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 31Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
- 32Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
- 33Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
- 34Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
- 35Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
- 36Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
- 37Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
- 38Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
- 39Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
- 40Scott Waldman. โMeet the 4 influencers shaping Chris Wrightโs worldview,โ E&E News, May 7, 2025. Archived May 8, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yAZX6
- 41John Constable. โThe Case for Reform of Solar Energy Planning Guidance,โ The Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived June 1, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/2duGZ
- 42Amy Oliver, Simon Trump. โA toxic blot on the landscape: Solar farms are ruining views and causing misery for residents – and, critics say, they’re filled with noxious chemicals, many are made by Chinese prisoners… and don’t even work in gloomy British weather,โ The Mail on Sunday, May 29, 2021. Archived June 1, 2021. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/lxj5Z
- 43John Constable. โA Little Nudge With A Big Stick,โ The Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived February 23, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/xeMod
- 44(Press Release.) โThousands of UK businesses are at risk of becoming โcarbon criminals,โ The Global Warming Policy Foundation, February 23, 2021. Archived February 23, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/JrZsb
- 45โU.S. Offshore Wind Prospects: Overblown Promises and Blown-Up Costs,โ The National Review, February 11, 2021. Archived February 15, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/Nl1JG
- 46Gordon Hughes. โWind Power Economics โ Rhetoric and Reality,โ The Renewable Energy Foundation, November 3, 2020. Archived February 15, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/NJHFt
- 47John Constable. โJohnsonโs crazy Net Zero drive will cost so much more than it saves,โ The Conservative Woman, January 5, 2021. Archived January 5, 2021. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/5f7Ng
- 48John Constable. โWho are they fooling? The UK Energy White Paper 2020,โ The Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived January 5, 2020. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/Opilr
- 49John Constable. โCurrent Costs of British Renewables Subsidies per Household,โ GWPF, October 14, 2019. Archived October 15, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/et4bp
- 50โOn your utility bill, the soaring price of green gesture politics,โ Conservative Woman, October 15, 2019. Archived October 15, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/TCPXx
- 51Richard Collett-White. โCambridge Professor and Anti-BBC Campaigner Join Board of Climate Science Denial Campaign Group,โ DeSmog, August 9, 2019.
- 52Sam Greenhill. โWindfarm farce that blew ยฃ1.4billion of YOUR money! As Boris Johnson trumpets his vision of powering every home with turbines, we reveal the botched scheme that will inflate bills for 20 YEARS,โThe Daily Mail, October 9, 2020. Archived November 30, 2020. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/qlkOz
- 53John Constable. โThe UKโs March 2020 Budget: Red Diesel and the Dawn of Carbon Taxation,โ The Global Warming Policy Forum, March 15, 2020. Archived December 15, 2020. Archive.vn URL: https://archive.vn/24TGK
- 54John Constable. โIs the Long Renewables Honeymoon Over?โ Global Warming Policy Foundation, May 11, 2019. Archived June 20, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/KbWAU
- 55John Constable. โSpeech at the Financial Times energy summit,โ Global Warming Policy Forum, June 20, 2018. Archived January 23, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 56John Constable, โRampion wind farm is a black hole for taxpayersโ money,โ CapX, June 6, 2018. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/sUgK9
- 57John Constable. โWe’re not anti-wind farms – but they should be offshore,โ The Guardian, January 11, 2007. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/rjjgg
- 58James Delingpole. โThe world’s biggest wind turbine โ nearly three times the height of Big Ben โ is to be built off the North-East coastโฆ but JAMES DELINGPOLE says the idea these giants will solve our energy problems is simply hot air,โ Daily Mail, April 25, 2018. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/UPhtz
- 59โJohn Constable joins GWPFโS Academic Advisory Council,โ Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/BsAug
- 60Kyla Mandel. โMPs Slam Anti-Wind Power Campaigners: You Seriously Want To Go Back to Fossil Fuels?โ DeSmog, April 13, 2016.
- 61Emily Gosden. โRevealed: the great wind farm tax ‘con’,โ The Telegraph, February 13, 2016. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/E8aUP
- 62โJohn Constable joins GWPF as Energy Editor,โ Global Warming Policy Forum, 31 January, 2016. Archived January 31, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/kQMPo
- 63Tom Bawden. โBritain’s leading private university โbecoming a mouthpiece for fossil-fuel industryโ,โ The Independent, March 30, 2015. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/UeRYq
- 64John Constable. โAre Green Times Just Around the Corner?โ Civitas: ideas for economic growth, Issue 6, May 2013. Archived January 23, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 65โCheltenham Science Festival Wind Power Debate,โ Renewable Energy Foundation, June 12, 2012. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/xokXZ
- 66โCheltenham Science Festival Wind Power Debate,โ Renewable Energy Foundation, June 12, 2012. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/xokXZ
- 67John Constable. โThe Green Mirage: Why the low carbon economy may be further off than we think,โ Civitas, 2011. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 68โWho we are,โ Global Warming Policy Forum. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/m93oU
- 69โJohn Constable joins GWPFโS Academic Advisory Council,โ Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/BsAug
- 70โRegister of Interests of Lords Members’ Staff โ by Member’s name: letter R,โ Parliament. Archived June 18, 2017. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 71Tom Bawden. โBritain’s leading private university โbecoming a mouthpiece for fossil-fuel industryโ,โ The Independent, March 30, 2015. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/UeRYq
- 72Leo Hickman. โWill the real Renewable Energy Foundation please stand up?โ The Guardian, May 18, 2011. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/q2lE0
- 73John Constable. โAre Green Times Just Around the Corner?โ Civitas: ideas for economic growth, Issue 6, May 2013. Archived January 23, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 74โTurbines go-ahead for Suffolk wind farm,โ National Wind Watch, July 27, 2007. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/Od52q