Sunday, November 13, 2011
Green agenda parked in lay-by
This morning's Independent reports that, following the decision by the UK Government, David Cameron today faces a revolt of business leaders, councils, environment campaigners and unions furious at his decision to cut funding for household solar energy, severely undermining his claim that the coalition would be the "greenest government ever".
The 55 individuals and groups warns that the Government will "strangle at birth" Britain's booming solar panel industry, threatening 25,000 jobs by halving the state subsidy for the popular "feed-in tariff" scheme:
The feed-in tariff scheme is one of the most popular environmental measures introduced by any government. It has already been adopted by 100,000 private and housing association homes, and was championed by David Cameron within weeks of him becoming Conservative leader.
Yet last month ministers announced that, from 12 December, the subsidies would be cut in half, despite claims they were consulting on the plan.
A letter by a broad alliance – from the Federation of Small Businesses and house-building organisations to council leaders from all three political parties, as well as the Town and Country Planning Association – has been organised by Friends of the Earth and the Cut Don't Kill campaign, which is pressing for the Government to temper the reforms. Mr Cameron and Chris Huhne, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, are also under pressure from the Confederation of British Industry, whose chief, John Cridland, said the measure was an "own goal". Mr Huhne has also been warned that 20 Liberal Democrat MPs – more than a third of the parliamentary party – are fighting the proposals.
In scathing language, the letter tells Mr Cameron: "This could only knock confidence in the UK's determination to build a low-carbon economy and hugely undermine your determination to lead the 'greenest Government ever'."
The Welsh Liberal Democrat Group in the Welsh Assembly have also publicly denounced the cut. The Party's Environment Spokesperosn, William Powell has written to Chris Huhne, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, to urge him to reconsider. We are particularly appalled that the cut has been made before a consultation on reform has concluded.
I am concerned at the impact of these changes on local jobs. One Swansea-based electrical company who contacted me expressed serious concerns about the speed with which this change is being implemented. They said that the backlash from customers has been massive already; with many cancelling, and requesting refund of their deposits. At the same time, his company are attempting to secure two to three times the proposed levels of stock, to allow them to get through as many customers as possible within the time allocated. They did not know if the company would survive the week.
There is no doubt that the FITs scheme has been a victim of its own success, with nearly three times as many applications received than anticipated, making the initial rates unsustainable in the medium to long term. However, I believe that by making this premature announcement, while the consultation on FITs reform is still underway, the UK Government is risking our long term renewable energy requirements for short term savings.
The 55 individuals and groups warns that the Government will "strangle at birth" Britain's booming solar panel industry, threatening 25,000 jobs by halving the state subsidy for the popular "feed-in tariff" scheme:
The feed-in tariff scheme is one of the most popular environmental measures introduced by any government. It has already been adopted by 100,000 private and housing association homes, and was championed by David Cameron within weeks of him becoming Conservative leader.
Yet last month ministers announced that, from 12 December, the subsidies would be cut in half, despite claims they were consulting on the plan.
A letter by a broad alliance – from the Federation of Small Businesses and house-building organisations to council leaders from all three political parties, as well as the Town and Country Planning Association – has been organised by Friends of the Earth and the Cut Don't Kill campaign, which is pressing for the Government to temper the reforms. Mr Cameron and Chris Huhne, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, are also under pressure from the Confederation of British Industry, whose chief, John Cridland, said the measure was an "own goal". Mr Huhne has also been warned that 20 Liberal Democrat MPs – more than a third of the parliamentary party – are fighting the proposals.
In scathing language, the letter tells Mr Cameron: "This could only knock confidence in the UK's determination to build a low-carbon economy and hugely undermine your determination to lead the 'greenest Government ever'."
The Welsh Liberal Democrat Group in the Welsh Assembly have also publicly denounced the cut. The Party's Environment Spokesperosn, William Powell has written to Chris Huhne, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, to urge him to reconsider. We are particularly appalled that the cut has been made before a consultation on reform has concluded.
I am concerned at the impact of these changes on local jobs. One Swansea-based electrical company who contacted me expressed serious concerns about the speed with which this change is being implemented. They said that the backlash from customers has been massive already; with many cancelling, and requesting refund of their deposits. At the same time, his company are attempting to secure two to three times the proposed levels of stock, to allow them to get through as many customers as possible within the time allocated. They did not know if the company would survive the week.
There is no doubt that the FITs scheme has been a victim of its own success, with nearly three times as many applications received than anticipated, making the initial rates unsustainable in the medium to long term. However, I believe that by making this premature announcement, while the consultation on FITs reform is still underway, the UK Government is risking our long term renewable energy requirements for short term savings.
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“… the decision by the UK Government, David Cameron today faces a revolt of business leaders, councils, environment campaigners and unions furious at his decision to cut funding for household solar energy, severely undermining his claim that the coalition would be the "greenest government ever.”
Have you stopped to think that the driving force behind this change are householders complaining about inflated household utility bills and businesses that use a lot of energy in their manufacturing processes who were being forced to outsource their manufacturing capacity off-shore along with British jobs because of ridiculously high energy costs?
Have you stopped to think that the driving force behind this change are householders complaining about inflated household utility bills and businesses that use a lot of energy in their manufacturing processes who were being forced to outsource their manufacturing capacity off-shore along with British jobs because of ridiculously high energy costs?
# posted by 
: 2:15 PM
: 2:15 PM
The FIT has resulted in over 90,000 installations since last April and a 900% growth in the country’s solar power potential since subsidies were introduced. In addition, a huge industry has grown up around solar PV which is creating thousands of jobs at a time when most business sectors are in decline. In the past 12 months alone the number of people working in the industry has jumped from 3,000 to 26,000. This decision therefore, goes against many of the government’s own environmental and job creation policies.
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