Build more wind and solar power to cut families' energy bills, say campaigners
Energy bills will be slashed if ministers make it easier to build new wind and solar farms and small nuclear power reactors, campaigners said today.
Britain Remade wants to relax planning rules so schemes can be accelerated and fuel prices cut for families.
The group today unveiled its “playbook for energy security by 2030”, with founder Sam Richards saying: “It must be possible to design a new set of planning rules and environmental protections that allows us to halt and reverse the decline of nature while at the same time enabling our amazing clean energy businesses to build the new sources of power we need to tackle climate change and to cut our bills.”
Octopus Energy boss Greg Jackson backed calls to bolster development of green energy projects to tackle climate change and rising sea levels.
Octopus Energy chief executive Greg Jackson (Bloomberg via Getty Images)He accused critics of being too concerned about “stranded assets” - where coal and oilfields are devalued because of a slump in demand.
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“In a few years’ time it’s going to be incredibly hard to explain to your kids or grandkids as you’re putting your armbands on that the world is underwater because we were a bit too worried about stranded assets,” he said.
“We’re going to end up doing this anyway - if we do it faster, people benefit sooner.”
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He said accelerating the switch would make the UK the “world leader” in “green jobs at scale and a whole new export industry”.
Shadow Climate Change and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband hailed the document as “a manifesto for hope”.
He said: “This is exactly the kind of ambition we need to drive towards clean power by 2030.
“It can lower bills, make us more energy secure, create jobs and once again show global climate leadership.”
Shadow Secretary for Climate Change and Net Zero Ed Miliband (Getty Images)The former Labour leader will on Tuesday pledge to trigger a British version of Joe Biden’s landmark green energy reforms under the White House’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Mr Miliband will urge the Government to "stop moaning" about the US President's green investment plan when he sets out Labour's plan.
“As the US and Europe speed off into the distance in the global race for green industry, we are sitting back in the changing rooms moaning about the rules,” he said.
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“Sore loser syndrome won't win any jobs for Britain.
"We need to stop moaning about the Inflation Reduction Act and start matching its ambition."
He will add: "Joe Biden wants the future made in America - we want the future made in Britain.”
US President Joe Biden (Niall Carson/PA Wire)The Mirror has told how campaigners want the UK to be “the cradle of the green Industrial Revolution” just as Britain gave birth to the original.
“In the world which is coming, it is no exaggeration to say wind power will be what coal was for previous generations,” Mr Miliband will say.
“Our island status and the North and Celtic Seas give us a unique position.”
The Government is expected to unveil its latest energy security plan this week, with the "green day" coming before a deadline to respond to a High Court order and revise its net zero policies.
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