Liz Truss

Liz Truss

Credentials

Background

Liz Truss was elected as leader of the Conservative Party and UK prime minister on September 5, 20222,Pippa Crerar.โ€œLiz Truss wins Tory leadership race to become Britainโ€™s next PMโ€, The Guardian, September 5, 2022. Archived September 5, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/fGmXy having stepped down as prime minister on October 20, 2022, 45 days after taking up the role.3Joshua Nevett and Kate Whannel. “Liz Truss resigns: PM’s exit kicks off another Tory leadership race,” BBC News, October 20, 2022. Archived November 1, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/z1hzq

Liz Truss served as theย UK‘s foreign secretary from September 20214Mat Hope, Richard Collett-White. โ€œIs Boris Johnson’s Cabinet the Most Anti-Climate Action Ever?โ€ DeSmog,ย Julyย 25,ย 2019. and is a Conservative MP for South West Norfolk5The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP,” GOV.UK. Archived December 29, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/8Qo5I until losing her seat to the Labour Party in the July 2024 general election.6Kiran Stacey. “Former Tory prime minister Liz Truss loses her seat to Labour,” The Guardian, July 5, 2024. Archived July 5, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/xGbK6

Truss was the UK’s trade secretary from July 2019 to September 2021.7Mat Hope, Richard Collett-White. โ€œIs Boris Johnson’s Cabinet the Most Anti-Climate Action Ever?โ€ DeSmog, July 25, 2019.

Truss was also responsible for the UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU and the lead negotiator for the Northern Ireland Protocol, following Lord David Frost’s resignation as Brexit Cabinet Minister in December 2021. As part of the role, Truss became the UKโ€™s co-chair of the Partnership Council and the Joint Committee.8Lisa O’Caroll. “Liz Truss to take on Brexit brief after David Frost resignation,” The Guardian, December 19, 2021. Archived December 20, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/twlBH 9Adam Payne. “Liz Truss Will Become Britain’s Lead Negotiator On The Northern Ireland Protocol,” PoliticsHome, December 19, 2021. Archived December 18, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/9FBTV

She was chief secretary to the Treasury between 2017 and 2019, after serving as justice secretary following a 2016 cabinet reshuffle.10โ€œThe Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP,โ€ Gov.uk. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/GbIdT

Truss served as environment secretary between 2014 and 2016.11โ€œThe Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP,โ€ Gov.uk. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/GbIdT

In a 2012 interview with the New Statesman, Truss named Margaret Thatcher as her favourite British Prime Minister.12Samira Shackle. โ€œThe MP Interview: Elizabeth Truss,โ€ New Statesman, May 25, 2012. Archived August 13, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/b1ER8

Truss stood unsuccessfully in the 2001 and 2005 general elections, before being elected as a councillor in Greenwich, South East London, in 2006.13Alex Stevenson. โ€œLiz Truss: A not-very-green environment secretary,โ€ Politics.co.uk, July 15, 2014. Archived August 13, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/Zj5hF 14โ€œLiz Truss,โ€ Personal website. Archived August 13, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/Debjh

Earlier in her career, Truss worked as a Commercial Manager at the oil and gas company, Shell, and subsequently as Economics Director at the telecommunications company, Cable & Wireless.15Samira Shackle. โ€œThe MP Interview: Elizabeth Truss,โ€ New Statesman, May 25, 2012. Archived August 13, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/b1ER8 16โ€œWho is Liz Truss? Meet the new Justice Secretary,โ€ The Telegraph, July 26, 2016. Archived August 13, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/oBtuv

She was later Deputy Director of the thinktank Reform, which advocates free market reforms of public services. While claiming to be โ€œstrictly independent and non-partyโ€ in its approach, it has been described as belonging to the modern-day conservative movement by ConservativeHome founder Tim Montgomerie and Taxpayers’ Alliance founder Matthew Elliott.17โ€œWho is Liz Truss? Meet the new Justice Secretary,โ€ The Telegraph, July 26, 2016. Archived August 13, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/oBtuv 18Andrew Haldenby, Richard Harries, Jonty Olliff-Cooper. โ€œMarkets for good: the next generation of public service reform,โ€ Reform, November 2014. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/fO8XU 19โ€œWho we are,โ€ Reform. Archived August 20, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/z70VO 20Tim Montgomerie. โ€œThe growth of Britain’s conservative movement,โ€ Conservative Home, March 14, 2009. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URL: http://archive.fo/W3eLq

While at Oxford University, Truss led the student Liberal Democrat Society.21Alex Stevenson. โ€œLiz Truss: A not-very-green environment secretary,โ€ Politics.co.uk, July 15, 2014. Archived August 13, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/Zj5hF

Environmental Policy

During the 2022 Conservative Party leadership race, Truss said she supported the UK’s 2050 net zero target but backed increased oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, and came out strongly against solar farms on agricultural land and onshore wind farms.

According to news site Politico, โ€œas chief secretary to the Treasury in the dying days of Theresa Mayโ€™s administrationโ€ Truss โ€œis said to have opposed the 2050 net zero target, and the U.K.’s hosting of [UN climate summit] COP26.โ€22Karl Mathiesen, Esther Webber and Noah Keate. โ€œLiz Trussโ€™ (net) zero sum gameโ€, Politico, September 4, 2022. Archived September 5, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/pV2H3

Politico quoted โ€œa former cabinet colleagueโ€ of Truss who said that โ€œshe’s going to be largely uninterested in the environment [as PM], because that romantic part of the Conservative movement, which is significant, doesn’t spring in her breast.โ€23Karl Mathiesen, Esther Webber and Noah Keate. โ€œLiz Trussโ€™ (net) zero sum gameโ€, Politico, September 4, 2022. Archived September 5, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/pV2H3

While environment secretary, Truss cut subsidies for solar farms, calling them โ€œa blight on the landscapeโ€ and claiming they were harming food production. The policy turned out not to have been backed up by any evidence from her department.24โ€œSolar farms are a blight on the landscape, says minister,โ€ BBC News, October 20, 2014. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/XUXpG 25Adam Vaughan. โ€œMinister’s claims that solar panels harm UK food security are false,โ€ Guardian, February 17, 2015. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/lmYiE

Since her election as an MP in 2010, Truss has been a vocal supporter of Heathrow expansion, backing the third runway despite a Conservative Party manifesto pledge to reject the proposal under David Cameron. She has also strongly supported fracking, calling opposition to the industry โ€œNIMBYโ€œ-ist.26Alex Stevenson. โ€œFeature: Britain’s elusive aviation strategy,โ€ Politics.co.uk, August 30, 2012. Archived March 31, 2014. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/iRGTA 27โ€œGood to see PM supporting fracking against NIMBY question. #frackontrack #pmqs,โ€ Tweet by @trussliz, February 28, 2018. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

Representing a rural constituency, Truss has a close relationship with the Countryside Alliance, an NGO which supports fox hunting and grouse shooting. Truss spoke at a reception organised by the CA at the 2015 Conservative Party Conference, with her reappointment as Environment Secretary after the general election having been welcomed by the group.28โ€œEnvironment Secretary speaks at CA conference event,โ€ Countryside Alliance, October 4, 2015. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URL: http://archive.fo/UZGc8 29โ€œReappointment of Liz Truss to Defra from the Countryside Alliance,โ€ Countryside Alliance, May 17, 2015. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/RyX6H

Truss has close ties to free-market groups critical of environmental policies based in and around 55 Tufton Street, having spoken at events organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and the Adam Smith Institute and appointed three employees of Tufton Street groups as advisors following her appointment as trade secretary.30Lawrence Carter. โ€œLiz Truss met with โ€˜dark moneyโ€™ think tanks during taxpayer funded trip to Washington DC,โ€ Unearthed, December 19, 2018. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/IrC3R 31Richard Collett-White, Mat Hope. โ€œMapped: The Anti-Climate Lobbyists Infiltrating Boris Johnson’s Government,โ€ DeSmog, August 1, 2019.

After her election as Prime Minister, IEA director general Mark Littlewood told Politico that Truss had spoken at IEA events more than “any other politician over the past 12 years”.32Matt Honeycombe-Foster. “London Influence: IEA way or the highway โ€” SpAd advice โ€” Give (time) generously,” Politico, September 8, 2022. Archived September 8, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/EpK8g

The cluster of think-tanks and lobby groups have historically promoted climate science denial and campaigned against policies to combat climate change. In July 2018, the IEA’s director general Mark Littlewood was filmed telling an undercover reporter from Greenpeace’s investigative unit Unearthed, posing as a prospective donor, that they could discreetly influence a report in ways that could advance their business interests, in exchange for funding.33Alice Ross, Lawrence Carter. โ€œA hard Brexit think tank told a potential donor it could influence its research reports in exchange for funding,โ€ Unearthed, July 29, 2018. Archived September 25, 2018. Archive URL: http://archive.fo/Y2VwB

In a 2022 op-ed titled, โ€œWhy my old friend Liz Truss will be the most radical British prime minister in a centuryโ€, Littlewood wrote: โ€œIt is a myth that sheโ€™s a political chameleon. She is and always has been a full-blooded free-market liberal […] she instinctively believes that the state has a greater propensity to do harm than to do good.โ€34Mark Littlewood. โ€œWhy my old friend Liz Truss will be the most radical British prime minister in a centuryโ€, September 3, 2022. Archived September 3, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/YoPyH

In the same article, he said he and Truss had met while studying at Oxford University and suggested that her approach to tackling the energy crisis “would be to allow the price mechanism to operate freely and then consider how one might mitigate the effects.”35Mark Littlewood. โ€œWhy my old friend Liz Truss will be the most radical British prime minister in a centuryโ€, September 3, 2022. Archived September 3, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/YoPyH

During a trip to the US in 2018 while chief secretary to the Treasury, Truss met with several Koch-funded libertarian thinktanks and lobby groups that have a history of climate science denial. They included: the Cato Institute, American Enterprise Institute, ALEC, Americans for Tax Reform and Heritage Foundation.36Lawrence Carter. โ€œLiz Truss met with โ€˜dark moneyโ€™ think tanks during taxpayer funded trip to Washington DC,โ€ Unearthed, December 19, 2018. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/IrC3R

Free Enterprise Group

Truss founded the Free Enterprise Group of Conservative MPs in 2011, shortly after entering parliament. The following year, Truss caused public outrage with a book called Britannia Unchained, which she co-authored with four other MPs from the group, including now Energy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng and Home Secretary Priti Patel. The book recommended extreme deregulation and contained the line: โ€œOnce they enter the workplace, the British are among the worst idlers in the worldโ€.37โ€œFree Enterprise Group & Institute of Economic Affairs Growth Forum proposals launched,โ€ IEA, February 27, 2012. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/By8tB 38โ€œTackle ‘lazy’ Britain, fellow Tories tell David Cameron,โ€ Evening Standard, August 17, 2019. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/Fq3r1

The Free Enterprise Group has been described by openDemocracy as the โ€œparliamentary wingโ€ of the Institute of Economic Affairs, with which the group has co-hosted numerous events. The IEA also provides administrative support to the group, including handling media enquiries.39Adam Ramsay, Peter Geoghegan. โ€œDominic Raab: is he the IEAโ€™s man in government?โ€ openDemocracy, July 10, 2018. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/Lu0Mm 40โ€œHomepage,โ€ Free Enterprise Group. Archived August 13, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

A profile on the Conservative Home website described the Free Enterprise Group’s aims as โ€œimproving infrastructure and education, reducing taxes and regulation, and reforming public servicesโ€. The group has produced a number of reports over the years, including one in 2012 by Energy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng entitled โ€œThe Case for Aviationโ€, which recommends further airport expansion.41Matthew Barrett. โ€œWhat is the Free Enterprise Group? Matthew Barrett profiles the most influential new gathering of Tory MPs,โ€ Conservative Home, March 21, 2012. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/qMgl7

Stance on Climate Change

April 18, 2024

Truss wrote in her book, Ten Years to Save the West, that โ€œthe zealous drive to net zeroโ€ — the UKโ€™s legally binding 2050 climate target — amounts to โ€œunilateral economic disarmamentโ€ and is โ€œa drag on economic growthโ€.42Adam Barnett. “Liz Truss Book Calls for Climate Laws to be Abolished and Boasts of Effort to Cancel UK COP Summit,” DeSmog, April 18, 2024.

She wrote: โ€œWe should abolish the Climate Change Act and instead adopt a new Climate Freedom Act that enables rather than dictates technologyโ€, and added that โ€œthe U.S. should reverse the Inflation Reduction Act, and the EU should abandon its equivalent measuresโ€.

Truss also advocated for increased fossil fuel extraction, advocating a mix of โ€œoil and gas as well as nuclear and renewablesโ€, adding: โ€œThe use of North Sea oil and gas is crucial, so there needs to be investment in that too. There also should be fracking in the UK.โ€

Truss also claimed that, while serving in the Treasury, she attempted to cancel the 2021 COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

July 25, 2022

During the 2022 leadership contest, Truss responded to a debate question — “what three things should people change in their lives to help tackle climate change?” — by saying: “I was an environmentalist before it was fashionable. I was a teenage eco-warrior campaigning against damage to the ozone layer”.43BBC News. “What three things should people do to tackle climate change? Rishi Sunak takes advice from his daughters: Reduce energy usage, recycle and innovation Liz Truss self-proclaimed “teenage eco-warrior”: Use less, waste less and innovation #BBCOurNextPM http://bbc.in/3S2IbQf,” tweet from user @BBCNews, July 26, 2022. Archived July 27, 2022. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

She added:

“I’ve always taken the view that we should save our resources […] so it’s about using less, wasting less, particularly food waste, which I think is, you know, a massive problem in this country. But also the innovation that we need to get the new technology that can help us do things better, whether that’s electric vehicles, whether that’s insulation in our homes, we can all act. But what I don’t want to see is ordinary households penalised by our net zero target, so I would lift the green energy levy and cut money from people’s fuel bills, whilst looking for better ways to deliver our net zero target.”

January 5, 2015

In an interview with Parliament’s The House magazine, reported by BT News, Truss said:44โ€œTruss: Climate change is happening,โ€ BT News, January 9, 2015. Archived August 13, 2019. Archive URL: http://archive.fo/KFgrW

โ€œI fully agree that climate change is happening. I think the evidence is very strong, but this department [DEFRA]’s role is making sure we adapt to climate change and that’s taken into account in all our modelling.โ€45โ€œTruss: Climate change is happening,โ€ BT News, January 9, 2015. Archived August 13, 2019. Archive URL: http://archive.fo/KFgrW

Key Quotes

May 25, 2024

In an interview with the Telegraph, Truss said prime minister Rishi Sunak should drop the UK’s net zero targets.46Dominic Penna. “Scrap net zero targets to win election, Liz Truss urges Sunak,” The Telegraph, May 25, 2024. Archived May 25, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/2zjgk

Truss told the Telegraph: โ€œWe [The Conservative Party] need to change the way we are governed. And the contention in my book is unless we do that, we are not going to be able to deliver the conservative policies the public actually wants such as controlling immigration, such as getting rid of the impacts of net zero.โ€

When the interviewer asked Truss “whether it was time for the Government to abolish all of its net zero targets”, she said, โ€œI believe so, yesโ€.

September 4, 2022

In a TV interview on the BBCโ€™s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg politics show, Truss said: โ€œItโ€™s also very important we use the resources in the North Sea. Thereโ€™s more we can do to exploit current gas fields. I support exploring fracking in parts of the United Kingdom where that can be done.47Liz Truss. โ€œSunday with Laura Kuenssbergโ€, BBC One, September 4, 2022. Tweet by @TetlowTweets. Clip retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

โ€œI support solar on commercial roofs, and what I would do is make it easier to put solar panels on the roofs of warehouses, on factories, on homes. But what we shouldnโ€™t be doing is putting solar panels on productive agricultural land. 

โ€œIโ€™m very supportive of renewables and I want us to do more on hydrogen, more on wind power, more on solar power, provided itโ€™s in the right place, but our priority has to be energy security, and I will make sure that we do hit our net zero targets, but we need to do it in a way that protects energy security. And gas is a very important transition fuel. Gas has half the emissions of coal, it is a good fuel to use as we are transitioning to net zero.โ€

August 20, 2022

In an interview with the Sun on Sundayโ€™s Political Editor Kate Fergerson, Truss said: โ€œBritain must beef up our own energy supplies by drilling more in the North Sea, turbocharging investment in nuclear and fracking where locals want itโ€. She also criticised protesters like Extinction Rebellion for โ€œstopping progressโ€.48Kate Fergerson. โ€œLIZ’LL DO THE BIZโ€, Sun, August 20, 2022. Archived August 21, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/c15od

October 20, 2014

Announcing a cut in subsidies to farmers and landowners with solar panels on their land, Truss said:49โ€œSolar farms are a blight on the landscape, says minister,โ€ BBC News, October 20, 2014. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/XUXpG

โ€œI’m very concerned that a lot of our land is being taken up with solar farms.โ€

โ€œWe’ve already got 250 of them and we’ve got 10,000 football-pitches’ worth of new solar farms in the pipeline.โ€

She continued:

โ€œFood and farming is our number-one manufacturing industry, the whole food chain represents ยฃ100bn in our economy, and it is a real problem if we are using productive agricultural land for solar farms.โ€50โ€œSolar farms are a blight on the landscape, says minister,โ€ BBC News, October 20, 2014. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/XUXpG

July 16, 2014

During her time as Deputy Director of the Reform thinktank, Truss said that energy infrastructure in Britain was being damaged by politicians’ obsession with green technology, the Guardian reported.51Damian Carrington, Fiona Harvey. โ€œCabinet reshuffle: Who are the new green ministers?โ€ Guardian, republished by Edie, July 16, 2014. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/uONSW

โ€œVast amounts of taxpayers’ money are being spent subsidising uneconomic activity.โ€52Damian Carrington, Fiona Harvey. โ€œCabinet reshuffle: Who are the new green ministers?โ€ Guardian, republished by Edie, July 16, 2014. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/uONSW

August 30, 2012

In an interview with Politics.co.uk regarding the expansion of Heathrow Airport, Truss said:53Alex Stevenson. โ€œFeature: Britain’s elusive aviation strategy,โ€ Politics.co.uk, August 30, 2012. Archived March 31, 2014. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/iRGTA

โ€œWe do need a hub airport in the south-east of Englandโ€ฆ If you want to have a hub airport three runways probably isn’t enough. If we’re imaginative about Heathrow, I don’t see why we can’t build four runways there.โ€

Responding to the accusation that building a third runway would break the Conservatives’ manifesto promise, Truss said:

โ€œThere is not going to be a third runway going to be built in this parliament, so as far as I’m concerned we’re honouring the pledge in that manifesto.โ€54Alex Stevenson. โ€œFeature: Britain’s elusive aviation strategy,โ€ Politics.co.uk, August 30, 2012. Archived March 31, 2014. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/iRGTA

Key Actions

February 6, 2024

Truss announced that she had formed a new faction within the Conservative Parliamentary Party called โ€œPopular Conservatism,โ€ the launch of which contained attacks on net zero and environmental groups. A branded leaflet handed out at the event, under the heading โ€œwhat we stand forโ€, stated: โ€œEnd net zero zealotry and promote energy pragmatism to provide both security of supply and low pricesโ€.55Adam Barnett. โ€œNew Liz Truss Faction โ€˜Popsโ€™ With Climate Science Denial and Fossil Fuel Ties,โ€ DeSmog, February 6, 2024.

Members of the group include a number of outspoken critics of net zero policies, including David Frost, board member of The Global Warming Policy Foundation, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nigel Farage. The groupโ€™s director, Mark Littlewood, was director of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), which has been funded by BP every year between 1967-2018, and whose members have consistently pushed for further fossil fuel extraction. 

September 8, 2022

Truss ended the UK’s moratorium on fracking, telling MPs in the House of Commons: “We will end the moratorium on extracting our huge reserves of shale – which could get gas flowing as soon as six months – where there is local support for it.”56Lizzy Buchan. “Anger as Liz Truss lifts fracking ban – with gas to start flowing in six months,” The Mirror, September 8, 2022. Archived September 8, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/lcZBE

The fracking moratorium was enacted in 2019 after a scientific study by the Oil and Gas Authority warned it was not possible to rule out โ€œunacceptableโ€ consequences for communities near fracking sites, or to predict the magnitude of earthquakes fracking could trigger.57Jillian Ambrose. “Fracking halted in England in major government U-turn,” The Guardian, November 1, 2019. Archived September 7, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/76gpg

August 30, 2022

The Times reported that one of Liz Trussโ€™ first acts as the next UK Prime Minister, if she wins, as expected, will be to approve a series of oil and gas drilling licences in the North Sea. The article suggests that as many as 130 licences will be issued.58George Grylls. โ€œTories rush to drill for more oil in North Seaโ€, Times, August 30, 2022. Archived September 2, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/rIUhB

August 11, 2022

At a Conservative party leadership hustings event held in Cheltenham, Truss said: โ€œI think one of the most depressing sights when youโ€™re driving through England is seeing fields that should be full of crops or livestock, full of solar panels.โ€59Peter Walker. โ€œTruss tax plans could put millions at risk of โ€˜real destitutionโ€™, says Sunakโ€, Guardian, August 11, 2022. Archived August 11, 2022. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.ph/AwyPZ

Truss also said that after tax cuts, she would focus on fixing the UKโ€™s long-term energy supply issues with possible solutions including support for fracking and nuclear power.

At the same event, when asked about the possibility of a windfall tax on energy companiesโ€™ profits, Truss said: โ€œI donโ€™t think profit is a dirty word, and the fact itโ€™s become a dirty word in our society is a massive problem.60Ben Riley-Smith, Dominic Penna, Camilla Turner. โ€œLiz Truss: No windfall tax on energy companiesโ€, The Telegraph, August 11, 2022. Archived August 30, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/vtwM4

โ€œOne thing I absolutely donโ€™t support is a windfall tax. I think itโ€™s a Labour idea, itโ€™s all about bashing business, and it sends the wrong message to international investors and to the public.โ€

July 16, 2022

In an interview with the Telegraph, Liz Truss suggested that she would lift the UKโ€™s ban on fracking to allow shale gas extraction if she were elected as Prime Minister.61Edward Malnick. โ€œLiz Truss: Iโ€™ll put an end to โ€˜Stalinistโ€™ housing targetsโ€, Telegraph, July 16, 2022. Archived July 16, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/5FcQI

She said: โ€œOn the subject of fracking, I think it depends on the local area, and whether there is support in the local area for it. But I certainly think we need to be doing all we can to lower the cost of energy for consumers.โ€

November 25, 2021

In her role as Foreign Secretary, Truss announced that the British development finance institution would be relaunched as British International Investment (BII) to invest in infrastructure and technology in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.62Truss revamps British development finance institution to deliver jobs and clean growth,GOV.UK, November 24, 2021. Archived December 28, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/HWJJ

The government’s announcement stated that the BII “builds on the Prime Ministerโ€™s commitments at COP26 to help developing countries take advantage of clean technology and grow their economies sustainably,” claiming that the BII will deliver “billions in climate financing for projects like solar power, sustainable transport and disaster-resilient infrastructure over the next 5 years.”63Truss revamps British development finance institution to deliver jobs and clean growth,GOV.UK, November 24, 2021. Archived December 28, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/HWJJ

January 13, 2021

Truss was reported to be considering including provisions such as corporate transparency on climate change and measures to mitigate air pollution in trade negotiations with the US.64Stefan Boscia. โ€œExclusive: UK eyes adding climate provisions in US trade talks to woo Joe Biden,โ€ CityAM, January 13, 2021. Archived January 18, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/DdEgG

March 7โ€“10, 2019

Truss spoke at the โ€œWorld Forumโ€ of the American Enterprise Institute, one of the richest think tanks in the U.S with a history of climate science denial. According to the Parliamentโ€™s Register of Membersโ€™ Financial Interests, the AEI spent over ยฃ8,200 on expenses for Truss to attend the event.65โ€œRegister of Membersโ€™ Financial Interests โ€“ as at 10 February 2020,โ€ UK ParliamentArchived March 4, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

January 7, 2019

While Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Truss caused alarm with promises to axe โ€œwhite elephant projectsโ€ including low-carbon initiatives, Business Green reported.66Madeleine Cuff. โ€œFears for green projects as Liz Truss calls for cull of ‘white elephant’ capital spending,โ€ Business Green, January 7, 2019. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/1CC7n

June 26, 2018

Truss criticised then Environment Secretary Michael Gove‘s proposed controls on wood-burning stoves, calling them symptomatic of the โ€œhot airโ€ coming out of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.67โ€œ‘Wood-burning Gove’: Liz Truss fumes at cabinet colleague,โ€ BBC News, June 26, 2018. Archived August 14, 2019. Archive URLhttp://archive.fo/EDXRa

January 29, 2015

Truss told the House of Commons that there were โ€œno plansโ€ for the release of an unredacted version of a government report on the impacts of fracking on the rural economy. She said that the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) should never have produced the report, claiming it was the responsibility of the Department for Energy and Climate Change.68Kyla Mandel. โ€œFlustered Liz Truss Blames Civil Servants for Redacted Fracking Report Fiasco,โ€ DeSmog, January 30, 2015.

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