Why are office buildings lit up like Father Christmas's sleigh as energy bills soar? - Ismail Mulla

The world would be a better place if important issues such as climate change weren’t turned into academic exercises for Oxbridge types to sit and score debating points over. There used to be a time where you saw a problem, diagnosed it and then sorted it accordingly.

Instead when it comes to energy and climate, we seem to endlessly go around the houses, debating the same points with different arguments.

Let’s establish the facts first. Climate change is real. It is scientifically proven and while science should be open to question, to go against the overwhelming consensus in the scientific community is not brave but rather stupid.

Is the planet seeing climate change? Yes, it is. I’m a sucker for warm weather. There’s no feeling like a balmy summer evening watching cricket in the sun. However, even I have to accept that we can’t continue to cope with the sort of summer that we just had. Experts predict it could even get worse.

We no longer need to look to the developing world to see the impact of climate change. Yorkshire is getting its fair share of extreme weather. We’ve had an increase in the number of floods. Yorkshire officially entered drought status because of low water levels in reservoirs and rivers, the Environment Agency announced in October. Cold snaps can send a chill down the spine of the heartiest soul.

The conundrum we find ourselves in is that wars in Ukraine and Iran are putting the squeeze on energy supply. Therefore energy companies have no choice but to squeeze the consumer until the pips squeak. While the bosses at these companies reward themselves and their shareholders handsomely for a job well done. Simultaneously, they lament not being able to extract even more fossil fuels, trashing the environment. Sounds like they’ve really got the rough end of the deal.

If supply has been squeezed then why do we continue to play fast and loose with how we consume energy?

The other day, after finishing work, I was walking through Leeds city centre at 7pm. There were the usual after work social gatherings. People trying to hurry home after a long day at work. Or those just wandering around for some fresh air. Nothing extraordinary about it.

I tell you what else wasn’t extraordinary. All the high rise office complexes, lit up like Christmas trees. Despite their not being a soul inside.

Prior to the pandemic we took it for granted that a lot of offices in a busy metropolitan city like Leeds would shine brightly late into the night. Quite often, you could see the silhouettes of a few night owls busily beavering away late into the night.

Back then there was less of a concern about energy bills because prices were in check.

But it beggars belief that with everything going on in the world, energy supply being throttled, the move towards renewables sluggish and half the world on fire as a result of conflict, there are empty office buildings shining like Sirius.

Can the last person exiting the building not at least turn the lights out? Are these shiny complexes not fitted with timers?

Maybe some of these offices didn’t have a night owl keeping the midnight oil burning and they had to step away from their desk. But surely not every worker had to go take a bathroom break suddenly at 7pm.

Then there are the lobbies of shiny buildings - both residential and commercial. Again lit up brighter than Father Christmas’s sleigh.

Sorry to sound like a scrooge but surely under the current circumstances it would be good business sense and environmentally responsible to drop the Vegas act?

It stands in stark contrast to pensioners in our towns and villages, shivering under a blanket, not daring to touch the thermostat in case the bailiffs arrive demanding a small ransom.

Which brings us to the other point. The administrative incompetence that has led to the drive to insulate homes stalling.

Clearly, the only way people are going to get any respite from the energy sharks is if we use less of it. Whether at home or in the workplace. The fact that various governments have been unable to get a grip on energy efficiency in either setting is telling.

Politics seems to suffer from a craving for shiny things. When it’s the little boring details that could deliver the greatest gains. Unless there’s a change in thought process, we may as well switch the lights off on the way out.