Caroline says the Coalition Government will keep UK addicted to dirty and expensive fossil fuels

This week the Government has provided details on the levels of subsidy for renewable power over the next few years.

It has also announced a £500m tax break for exploitation of gas fields in UK coastal waters, and stated that it foresees a major role for gas generation into the 2030s.  

In the Brighton MP's response to the Department of Energy and Climate Change announcement on levels of subsidy for renewable energy technologies and future role of gas, she said:

“Whilst I welcome the decision not to cut onshore wind support by more than 10%, as proposed in the initial consultation, this announcement demonstrates that this Government is hell bent on keeping the UK addicted to dirty, expensive fossil fuels – instead of making the most of the UK’s rich renewable energy resources.   

“Overall, what we are seeing today is a reduction in subsides for renewables, and an increase in subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, in the form of a new £500m tax break for gas. “

Greens say the reduction in subsidises is already harming investment in renewable technologies meanwhile new fossil fuel projects have been spurred on.

Caroline points out that exactly one month ago, the Prime Minister told MPs that removing fossil fuel subsides was important.

But now his Government is giving the industry another huge handout – on top of the £3bn package for offshore oil and gas announced in the Budget earlier this year.

Caroline argues ministers must acknowledge that gas is a fossil fuel and burning fossil fuels is driving us towards runaway climate change. 

She added, “A virtually zero-carbon power supply by 2030 is essential to meet the UK’s legally binding carbon budgets.

"The Committee on Climate Change has warned that a second dash for gas would be incompatible with this.

"Whilst gas can have a small role to play as a bridging technology and in meeting peak demand, it must be strictly limited.

"Furthermore, gas prices have been the main cause of rising household energy bills.

Many commentators suggest that gas prices will continue to rise – not fall - and these higher prices would be passed onto householders.

"Ed Davey’s dash for gas didn’t make sense for consumers or the climate in March, and it doesn’t make sense today.  

“I am also concerned that whilst the 10% cut to onshore wind subsides is not as bad as the 25% reduction that the Treasury was asking for, it may leave many medium-scale community and cooperatively owned wind projects at the margins of viability – precisely the type of scheme that Ministers promised to support in the Coalition Agreement commitment to community renewables. 

"DECC must do more than just ask how communities might have more of a say over renewable projects in their areas”

The Brighton MP called for community ownership of renewable generation plant and local grid infrastructure, to take power away from the Big Six energy companies that are holding the UK’s energy future to ransom

“These are crucial decisions about the future of the UK’s energy supply and our ability to avoid dangerous climate change.

"Government must stop putting the profits of the oil and gas industry before the public benefits of a genuinely clean, renewable, home grown energy system,” Caroline said.

ENDS