A Change Manifesto
The Good News -
It may be early days, but the new UK government has already set the ball rolling for positive change, safeguarding plans for renewable energy projects in the future.
Just days after the Labour party’s election victory, the ban on new onshore wind farms had been officially lifted, aiming to increase the UK’s energy independence, reduce energy bills and support high-skilled jobs. The new government's move has been warmly welcomed by environmentalists and energy experts alike.
Other movements include Rachel Reeves’ launch of a £7.3bn national wealth fund to boost investment in key industries (including ports, gigafactories, clean steel, carbon capture and green hydrogen), and climate change expert Chris Stark (former head of the UK's Climate Change Committee) was appointed to lead a 'mission control centre' on clean energy.
Labour’s plan for the environment:
- Set up the publicly owned Great British Energy, and invest in clean energy - almost all of the country's electricity will be UK-generated and zero carbon by 2030.
- Upgrade the National Grid and reform planning to speed up clean energy projects.
- Make sure local communities benefit directly from hosting clean energy infrastructure.
- Refuse to issue licences to explore new North Sea oil and gas fields or new coal licences, while retaining existing licences, and ban fracking completely.
- End sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030 and speed up the roll out of electric vehicle charging points
- Make polluting water firms clean up rivers and seas and give the regulator powers to block bonuses for company bosses.
Quotes
“There is not a minute to waste in the drive for 2030 clean power and in the drive for climate action. The world is off track, Britain is off track and we intend to change that direction.” - Ed Miliband, Shadow Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary
For further information on this article, please visit:
https://labour.org.uk/change/make-britain-a-clean-energy-superpower/
