Commenting on reports that Nigel Farage has called for a referendum on the UK government’s target to cut climate-wrecking emissions to zero by 2050, Greenpeace UK’s head of politics Rebecca Newsom said:
“Our dependence on fossil fuels has been the lifeblood of Vladimir Putin’s regime. Thanks to weak political leaders who have allowed themselves to be swayed by a vocal minority of sceptics like Farage, we’re now stuck with gas-guzzling homes that are funding Putin’s war, hurting our pockets as gas prices soar and wrecking the climate. We have already seen what happens when, in David Cameron’s infamous phrase, you ‘cut the green crap’. UK energy bills are now £2.5bn higher thanks to that. Britain has the worst track record on heat pump sales and some of the draughtiest homes in Europe. [1] This is the price we pay for decades of government failure to end our dependence on fossil fuels. Our best hope for a safer, healthier, peaceful future is in moving away from oil and gas as quickly as possible and investing in renewable energy and warmer homes. That’s the hope Farage is trying to extinguish, and no doubt Putin will be cheering him on.”
ENDS
Notes:
[1] https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-cutting-the-green-crap-has-added-2-5bn-to-uk-energy-bills
Contact: Greenpeace UK news team at press.uk@greenpeace.org and on 020 7865 8255.
