THE definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

When it comes to fighting , we have been doing the same thing for years — setting targets, ploughing money into government subsidies and failed schemes, while and sending jobs to .

Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband sits in a red chair with his hands clasped, facing right, in front of a background of orange and yellow fire.Net Zero has failed and Brits are paying the price, pictured Eco loon Ed Miliband Credit: PA An aerial view of a wind farm on a hilltop in the Scottish Highlands at sunset.The targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions have driven up energy costs, weakened our industrial base and made us more dependent on foreign imports Credit: Getty

We’ve all made massive sacrifices. And, in return, we’ve had and rainier winters.

If that isn’t evidence that then I don’t know what is.

The targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions, set by in 2008 and continued by previous governments, have driven up energy costs, weakened our industrial base and made us more and more dependent on foreign imports with higher emissions.

But they are not solving climate change. In fact, they are making the problem worse by making electricity so expensive barely anyone can afford to adopt clean technologies.

When bills are up, money is tight and people delay green upgrades and are put off buying electric cars or installing heat pumps.

We’ve become a warning to the rest of the world.

A new report, by the think tank Onward in collaboration with the Shadow Energy Secretary , says that an electricity grid that prioritised cutting bills instead of Net Zero would save consumers more than £320billion over 20 years, make Britian’s electricity a third cheaper by 2050, and still be nearly 80 per cent clean.

Unlike , who are wedded to the old failing plans, or , who still don’t believe climate change is happening, the Conservatives will bring common sense back to energy policy.

entered No10 promising to right the wrongs of .

It was suggested Burnham would approve the — the oil and gas fields awaiting approval for drilling in the North Sea.

A month later and he seems to be kicking the decision down the road because he’s worried about the “optics”. This is a shameful absence of leadership.

With Burnham pushing ahead with Miliband’s mad plan to ban all new licences, it should come as no surprise that our biggest oil company,

Aerial view of a wind farm with white turbines in a field under a blue sky.It was suggested that Burnham would approve the new licences for Rosebank and Jackdaw – but now he seems to be kicking the decision down the road Credit: Getty Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband sits in a red chair with his hands clasped, facing right, in front of a background of orange and yellow fire.Claire Coutinho says that an electricity grid that prioritised cutting bills instead of Net Zero would save consumers more than £320bn over 20 years Credit: Alamy

But they are merely following in the footsteps of refinery operators, chemicals firms, ceramic manufacturers and thousands of other companies who have given up operating in Britain, unable to weather the combination of and the hostile tax and regulatory environment under Labour.

It just does not have to be like this.

We can care for our environment and move towards clean energy without scorching the earth with taxes, bans and mandates.

Net Zero is a political programme, not a law of nature.

We should preserve our countryside, encourage biodiversity, invest in flood defences and ensure Britain is resilient in the face of a changing climate.

We currently have the highest industrial energy prices in the developed world, and domestic energy prices are increasing at a rate faster than Labour can subsidise them with taxpayer handouts.

Onward’s report exposes just how much extra you are going to have to pay to get Britain to Net Zero.

We will soon be spending billions building pylons and cables, carving up the countryside in the process.

We will have to pay for expensive back up for when the wind’s not blowing. And we’ll pay even more to switch wind farms off when the wind’s blowing too hard.

This is absurdity. All of the costs simply end up on your energy bills.

All this is doing is making electricity expensive so factories shut down here, then move to China which has an exceptionally high rate of approving and building new coal plants or reactivating old ones.

That does not reduce emissions, it just changes where they come from — while costing Britain , investment and prosperity.

The most important thing we can do to protect our industry, to cut bills for families, and to help the environment, is to make electricity as cheap as possible.

All of this is why my Conservative Party has pledged to scrap the carbon tax — the biggest green levy — and scrap the legally binding target for Net Zero by 2050.

That target is suffocating government in legal action by green groups, pushing up bills and strangling business with more and more reporting duties and regulations.

Together, our changes will save families £200 off their electricity bills, give a lifeline to our automotive industry, and revive oil and gas production in the North Sea and all of the jobs it supports in Aberdeen and across the United Kingdom.

This is not just about our economy and jobs, it’s about everyone’s cost of living and quality of life, it’s about common sense.

For instance, the Net Zero rules currently ban installing air conditioning in new homes.

That’s another ban that I’ll scrap, in the interests of all of us who have been suffering sleepless nights and grumpy days in this hot summer.

Onward’s report is just the latest in a bank of research and evidence that we are building to make the case for a complete change of thinking on energy.

No other party is doing this detailed work and no other party is ready to take the tough choices to get Britain working again.