Johnson’s energy security strategy won’t bring down our eye-watering heating bills | Eleanor Salter

This plan could have ended dependence on Russian gas and tackled the cost of living crisis. Thanks to Tory backbenchers, it did neither

At last, the energy security strategy has been published, after weeks of hedging, briefing and delays. The original aims of the strategy, which was initially promised on 7 March, were worthy: to confront rocketing energy bills and transition away from Russian fossil fuels after the invasion of Ukraine.

There was also hope in the climate world that the strategy would go further and faster in the transition to a zero-carbon economy. The cost of renewables has tumbled, and the UK's leaky housing stock is crying out for retrofitting. This was an opportunity for an urgent response both to the climate and cost of living crises.

Eleanor Salter writes about climate, culture and politics