Kwasi Kwarteng risked stoking tensions with Rishi Sunak today as he insisted tax rises are not 'inevitable' to hit Net Zero targets.
The Business Secretary struck a different tone after a Treasury assessment warned that new levies will be needed to cover the costs of the transition.
He also said he did not 'accept' that subsidies for electric cars were bungs for the wealthy, as the analysis from Mr Sunak's department suggested.
And Mr Kwarteng dismissed 'unhelpful' recent Treasury briefings against him over bailouts for energy-intensive firms.
The comments, in a round of interviews this morning, come amid signs of increasing friction between Mr Sunak and Boris Johnson's allies.
Alongside the PM's strategy for decarbonising Britain by 2050 yesterday, the Treasury released a stark assessment warning that the government cannot borrow to fund the costs of the transition.
It cautioned that tax rises would be needed to underwrite state investment - and that a way will have to be found to fill the black hole left as £37billion of revenue from fuel duty disappears.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng (left) struck a different tone after an assessment from Rishi Sunak's (right) Treasury warned that new levies will be needed to cover the costs of the transition
The Treasury cautioned that Net Zero will add to the fiscal pressures the country is already facing
The Net Zero plan sets out a pathway for how various elements need to reduce their carbon emissions over the coming years
The message contrasted sharply with the Mr Johnson's bullish comments that there will be no need for 'hair shirt' measures.
But there are reports it the Treasury assessment was originally even tougher and had been 'scrubbed' to remove the most alarming sections.
Although the government insists that there is no way of predicting the bill for getting to Net Zero, experts have suggested it will be at least a trillion pounds.
That would be far less than the costs of dealing with unmitigated climate change.
However, with the public sector considered likely to foot half that investment it implies an average annual cost of around £15billion - with the rest being picked up by consumers and business.
In a round of interviews today, Mr Kwarteng admitted making the transition to net-zero can be 'very costly' for consumers.
He told Sky News: 'It's a fine line you have to tread between making the transition and essentially forcing people and imposing costs on people to make the transition, and what we want to do is to keep people with us on the transition, on the journey.'
But Mr Kwarteng denied that tax rises were 'inevitable' due to the Net Zero
