Government's appeal against solar ruling set for 13 January6 January 2012
The Government's costly and damaging challenge to last month's High Court solar ruling will be heard by the Court of Appeal on Friday 13 January.
The Government is disputing the High Court's decision that it acted illegally when it rushed through sudden cuts to solar payments. Friends of the Earth and two solar firms, Solarcentury and HomeSun, took the Government to court to get the ruling.
Instead of wasting taxpayers' money fighting this in the courts, Ministers should safeguard thousands of solar jobs and enable more homes, businesses and communities to plug in to clean energy.
Craig Bennett, Campaigns Director, Friends of the Earth
Unlikely to succeed
The High Court judge has already said that an appeal by the Government would have no realistic chance of success. However, ministers are ploughing ahead.
Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to accept the High Court ruling and help solar to get back on its feet by:
- Reducing tariff rates in a planned way from February 2012 to protect jobs.
- Increasing the budget for solar.
- Letting more people - including householders and disadvantaged communities - benefit from the technology.
Bright future?
The Government's solar scheme has so far been a great success. It has led to the installation of more than 100,000 solar panel projects and created around 27,000 new jobs.
The majority of these jobs are now under threat and countless planned clean energy schemes have been abandoned.
What you can do
Please add your voice to our campaign for affordable, clean British energy.
© Friends of the Earth
