“My point is that as a citizen of a wealthy industrialized country, the British consumer and/or taxpayer isn’t going to sweat the 10%-20% price difference.”
You’re not paying attention.
UK weather: 31,000 people DIED of the cold last winter
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/uk-weather-31000-people-died-2852677#ixzz2ucszzqkN
If you think that death toll is something that a consumer won’t sweat, you are clueless. That’s a big deal in the UK. People dying because they can’t keep warm due to rising energy prices may cost the Tories the next election.
My point is that if Russia turns off the natural gas, governments across the EU may fall. That includes Georgia.
There were 18,000 winter-related female deaths, a rise from 13,610 the previous year. Meanwhile, the number of excess male deaths was 13,100 - a rise from 10,590 observed in 2011/12.
This nets out to an increase of 7,000 people, out of a population of 63m people or a .01% increase, year-to-year. Sounds like they were just unprepared for the sub-freezing weather outdoors, which is actually somewhat atypical for England (where 5/6 of the population lives), which usually doesn't experience a freeze for more than a few days at a time.
For what it's worth, the Mirror is a far-left wing paper formerly headed up by CNN's Piers Morgan. Whining about the latest Tory outrage is its bread-and-butter.
OMG thank you for posting. I had no idea that 25k british died in the winter of 2012 and 31k died winter of 2013 because they could not afford heat. Sad that this happens in a “civilized society”. The global warming crowd still has no clue.