In early November I visited my MP to discuss the Energy Bill and try to lobby her to vote for a clear decarbonisation target for electricity production in the UK. I’d been encouraged to schedule an appointment with my MP by the Greenpeace political lobbying network which was mobilizing trained volunteer lobbyists across the country. Lobbying MP’s on the Energy Bill was a key task due to the Bill's impact on future electricity generation in the UK.
So I took off a few hours from work on a Friday afternoon and was joined by two other Greenpeace volunteers for the appointment with Rushanara Ali MP. We met the MP in a room at a Tower Hamlets council building in near Bethnal Green and had a pretty long discussion about the Energy Bill and climate change campaigning more broadly. Prior to meeting with the MP I was nervous as to how the discussion would pan out, it was my first attempt at lobbying after attending the training at Greenpeace’s office earlier in the year. But I found the meeting very relaxed and we were well informed with a detailed brief document that was provided by the Greenpeace lobbying co-ordinator.
Rushanara was not fully aware of the Labour parties stance on the Bill, but she agreed to write a letter on my behalf to Ed Milliband and also to vote for a decarbonisation target if that was the party line.
The Energy Bill has now been published and unfortunately contains no decarbonisation target which means there is not enough certainty for the investment in renewable electricity production for real progress on unhooking from fossil fuels. However, Caroline Flint, the Labour Party Secretary for Energy suggested she would push for an amendment that includes a decarbonisation target.
So even though there was sadly no decarbonisation target included in the Bill, I was encouraged by the meeting with my MP and look forward to lobbying her again. If you'd like to get trained up and start lobbying (I highly recommend it!) there's more info on the Greenpeace website http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/lobbying
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