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Government publishes Energy White Paper
22 May 2007
The Government is due to publish the Energy White Paper at 12.30pm on Wednesday 23 June. Consultations on nuclear energy and on renewables obligations are also due to be announced on the same day.
Roger Higman,Friends of the Earth Campaign Coordinator, said:
"The White Paper must start to deliver the cuts in carbon emissions which are needed if the UK is going to play its part in tackling climate change. This means much larger cuts in emissions than Ministers have so far talked about. Government targets for a 60 percent cut in emissions are simply not going to be enough.A recent scientific paper shows that if every country in the world delivered cuts on this scale we would still see devastating climate change with a temperature rise of 4 or 5 degrees centigrade [1]."
"To deliver the cuts in emissions which are needed, the paper must promote energy saving measures - aimed at cutting emissions from homes and transport - as well as finding new ways to generate electricity. Unfortunately energy efficiency initiatives have so far been neglected in favour of hugely expensive proposals for a new nuclear programme; despite the fact Government's own advisors have said that cutting emissions from other sources will be more cost effective and quicker. [2]"
Notes
[1] Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research response to the draft Climate Change Bill's carbon reduction targets:
www.tyndall.ac.uk/publications/briefing_notes/bn17.pdf (PDF)
[2] Sustainable Development Commission "Is Nuclear the answer?" said of the Government "Their own advisors found that there was no justification for bringing forward a new nuclear power programme at present."
www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/060306.html
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jun 2008
