It was formerly the territory of anti-science, know-nothing-and-proud-of-it good ol’ boys and gals such as Sarah Palin in US extreme conservative circles.

Diehard Republican voters lapped up the anti-environmental distraction messaging of Sarah Palin in 2008, as the rest of the world realised almost immediately just how out of her depth she was on real policy.

Drilling for even more oil and gas and abandoning common sense health and environmental policy is now Rishi Sunak et al’s response to save the ailing Tory party from an electoral meltdown of its own making.

All in the middle of a summer season that has shattered records for extreme weather events, as human-induced global warming plays out in real-time.

We have seen much of Europe bake in temperatures well into the 40Cs, wildfires take hold in Greece and Italy, record rainfall in Ireland in July after record high overall heat in June, but despite the mounting evidence that the world is changing before our eyes, Rishi Sunak and Tory headquarters are betting on even more fossil fuel production as a way out of political meltdown.

Quick backstory — Boris Johnson lies to parliament about parties in Downing Street during the covid-19 pandemic lockdown, Johnson quits parliament with a puss after it officially finds that he lied and admonishes him for doing so, and his Uxbridge seat in north London is up for grabs in a by-election, along with two other by-election seats being contested on the same day.

In addition to Johnson, the other two seats were up for grabs because another Tory quit in a huff after Johnson’s recommendation to make him a lord was rejected, and yet another Tory resigned after harassing women and taking cocaine.

Political pundits predicted the three seats would flip to Labour and/or the Liberal Democrats, despite large existing Tory majorities in each constituency. It would be a harbinger of the political self-immolation to come in a general election, most believed.

By election day on July 20, the Tories were on course to lose all three by-elections, the worst by-election result for an incumbent Prime Minister for decades.

Desperate Tories searched for any message that would stick during a limp campaign, and in Uxbridge, they settled on attacking the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) policy that aims to keep the most polluting cars out of central London, and subsequently in 2023, its surrounding areas.

Johnson himself introduced the policy as London mayor in 2015.

However, Tories turned it into current mayor and Labour lightning rod Sadiq Khan’s baby, scaring Londoners into thinking it is an attack on their way of life, and just about successfully fended off the Uxbridge seat swinging Labour’s way during the by-election in July.

By painting it as an attack on hard-pressed motorists and London residents, as opposed to being mindful of the health of the vast majority who breathe the polluted air, the Tories found a winning formula.

Emboldened by such shameless anti-environmental rhetoric, Rishi Sunak — never gone on the whole climate change thing anyway — goes full Sarah Palin this week.

Drill, baby, drill.

With pride, Sunak announces that “hundreds of new oil and gas licences will be granted in the UK... as the UK Government continues to back the North Sea oil and gas industry as part of drive to make Britain more energy independent”.

Giddy fossil fuel industry figures can barely hide their delight.

With a straight face, the CEO of Offshore Energies UK, David Whitehouse, said: “Domestic production is the best pathway to net zero and the UK Government’s commitment to licences is a welcome boost for energy security and jobs. Oil and gas fields decline naturally over time. The UK needs the churn of new licences to manage production decline inline with the maturing basin.

“There are currently 283 active oil and gas fields in the North Sea, by 2030 around 180 of those will have ceased production due to natural decline. If we do not replace maturing oil and gas fields with new ones, the rate of production will decline much faster than we can replace them with low carbon alternatives.”

In Mr Whitehouse and Mr Sunak’s opinion, the best way to get away from destructive fossil fuel production is to produce more fossil fuel.

Never mind that renewable energy is coming on leaps and bounds by the day, and that it simply has to be the long-term strategy for countries the world over in order for human-induced climate change disaster to be averted.

At least one prominent Tory MP saw it for what it is — this is about saving as many Tory skins as possible when the next general election comes around, and the planet be damned if it gets in the way of short-term political cycles.

Chris Skidmore, a longtime environmental advocate, could not contain his anger.

“This is the wrong decision at precisely the wrong time, when the rest of the world is experiencing record heatwaves. It is on the wrong side of a future economy that will be founded on renewable and clean industries and not fossil fuels,” he said.

“It is on the wrong side of modern voters who will vote with their feet at the next general election for parties that protect, and not threaten, our environment, and it is on the wrong side of history that will not look favourably on the decision taken.

“Worryingly, this decision has also been announced when MPs are on recess, unable to hold the government to account.

Sunak talks about “proportionate and pragmatic” measures to meet climate ambitions, but it is hard to see what is proportionate or pragmatic about a policy that sees thousands die prematurely every year in the UK due to disease related to air pollution and heavily polluted rivers and coastlines, as well as wilting biodiversity.

Don’t be fooled by the amiable smile and less rambunctious style of leadership as compared to his predecessor — Sunak is as ruthless and calculating as any Machiavellian strategist. Win by any means necessary, the next generation can clean up the mess because we’ll be long gone by then.

Drill, baby, drill.