He had been backed up in the chamber by deputy leader Russell Quirk, who said: “The quest for net zero is fatally expensive and ironically unsustainable.”
He said striving to become net zero was a “ridiculous endeavour” that was “as pointless as it is foolish”.
Quirk said any efforts on the council’s part were “akin to a literal drop in the proverbial ocean”, while other countries increased their industrial activities.
The state of Essex’s roads was also a major feature of the meeting, where Harris declared a “pothole emergency”.
Library reservation charges, introduced by the Conservative administration in April, were also scrapped.
Responding to Reform’s criticism of net zero, Scott said: “Yes, there needs to be modifications to net zero and what we do and what we don’t do.
“It has to be viable, but we also have to recognise that certain things will save our residents money.”
Reaching net zero CO2 emissions is essential to limit global warming, according to the UN’s climate body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The world is warming because of humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions, which increase global temperatures by trapping extra energy in the atmosphere near the Earth’s surface.
This is bringing more frequent and intense heatwaves, rapidly rising sea levels and widespread harm to nature.