Stop axing green policies

The UK government has recently introduced a whole host of measures that reduce subsidies to renewable energy and actively discourage people from going green.

The effects of this are massive. Today we heard that Drax, which runs the biggest coal-fired power station in the UK, has been forced to abandon a £1bn carbon technology project that would have captured 90% of the plant’s emissions, and all because the government removed the renewable energy tax exemption which funded the project.

This comes as the Chancellor, George Osborne, also unbelievably introduced a £3.9bn carbon tax called the ‘Climate Change Levy’ on wind and solar power and biogas. As these energy sources emit no net carbon, this policy seems absolutely ridiculous.

He has also changed Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) so that now a Prius costs just as much as a Porsche. The AA believes this decision will discourage drivers from using less polluting cars.

Other bright ideas include destroying the green homes scheme, selling off the green investment bank, and spending £24.5 bn building the new Hinkley point c nuclear power plant out of what experts have called ‘outdated’ and ‘overcomplicated’ technology.

Amber Rudd, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, says the subsidy cuts are because they exceeded its £7.6bn budget for renewable energy this summer, and supposedly they will help keep household bills down, but how will increasing tax on greener cars keep families in pocket? How will removing support for green homes today help small businesses to reduce their bills in the future?

And how exactly are MPs going to justify this attack on clean energy in the face of the current and future health problems caused by the hydrocarbons that they still continue to subsidise?

The UK has always been a world leader in environmental policy, and now the actions of this government are putting our moral and scientific reputation at risk, as well as deterring investors and putting our health at risk. Please sign this petition now to let Amber Rudd and George Osborne know that we won’t put up with it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-34319458
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/22/al-gore-puzzled-by-ukcuts-to-renewable-energy-support
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/24/the-9-green-policies-killed-off-by-tory-government
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/21/the-guardian-view-on-hinkley-point-c-overcomplicated-overpriced-and-overdue
http://www.carbonbrief.org/blog/2015/07/decc-amber-rudd-reduces-subsidies-for-renewable-energy/