It's crunch time for the climate

Posted by Richardg — 23 July 2012 at 10:08am - Comments
New wind turbines are constructed at the Butterwick Moor Wind Farm.
All rights reserved. Credit: Steve Morgan / Greenpeace
New wind turbines are constructed at the Butterwick Moor Wind Farm.

The Chancellor’s assault on our climate must stop. It’s time for David Cameron and Nick Clegg to intervene and stop him.

Four years ago, an amazing thing happened. Politicians from every mainstream party joined forces to pass the Climate Change Act. It was the first time that any government made a legally binding commitment to cutting greenhouse gas emissions. David Cameron, then the Leader of the Opposition, was one of the most vocal supporters of this new law.

Now that legacy is under threat, because the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has gone to war on our environment. Faced with the news that he is one of the most unpopular politicians in the UK, Osborne has started pandering to the fossil fuel lobby (£) and the climate change deniers that lurk on the far right of the Tory party.

He’s demanding that we cut funding for renewable energy and build new gas-fired power stations. If he gets his way, then the Climate Change Act, and all the hard work that went into securing it, would go up in smoke.

Today, an influential committee of MPs has published a damning report on the upcoming Energy Bill. The Bill, it says, is not fit for purpose – and it points the finger firmly at George Osborne. The Chancellor has been sticking his nose into the Bill, shooting down any suggestion that we should promote clean, renewable energy. The MPs warn that his meddling is scaring away investors, blocking investment in renewable energy and strangling the green economy and the jobs that come with it.

This madness has to stop. Our climate, our energy future and our economy is too important. The Chancellor's meddling is holding us back. It’s time for Nick Clegg and David Cameron to tell him to butt out.

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