Greens believe the White Paper fails to give strong backing for drastically increasing energy efficiency and does not do enough to reduce energy demand. Greens are also concerned that the White Papers leaves the door open to a possible push for new nuclear power stations in the future.
“The Government’s long awaited Energy White Paper gets full marks for spin; otherwise, it is a provocative fudge and flies in the face of common sense. London in particular desperately needs a committed push for energy conservation but this paper fails to deliver," comments Victor Anderson, Green Party Assembly Member and Environmental Advisor to the Mayor of London.
Greens point out that the £300m provided for renewable energy is woefully inadequate for three major reasons:
1. This is less than half the subsidy that has just been given to the nuclear industry
2. It is less than 1% of what they want to spend on road building in the next ten years
3. It is only half a percent of the tax-breaks given to the aviation industry in the same decade.
Given that road transport and aviation are the two fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gases, Greens believe the energy white paper should be exposed as mere rhetoric.
Victor Anderson added, “We are bitterly disappointed over the government’s fudge. It looks as if the White Paper’s aspirational targets for renewable energy are set up to fail so that new nuclear plants can be wheeled back in a few years time.
Without a strong backing for drastically increased energy efficiency and reduced energy demand, there is no hope for London to contribute its share in a national drive against climate change. The capital may well be threatened by increasingly worse flooding over the coming decades. We cannot afford to lose any more time."
ENDS