Stroud District Green Party notes that fracking is an ironic way to kick off the Government’s ‘Green Great Britain Week‘, a celebration of our country’s development of clean energy. One week after the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its ‘catastrophic’ report on the impact of climate breakdown, fracking has begun in Lancashire.
The IPCC has put out its most urgent warning to date saying that the planet has 12 years in which to limit a climate change disaster (by the time Megan and Harry’s first child starts senior school). This requires a massive move away from fossil fuel to limit global warming to 1.5C. Even a half degree more will increase the floods, droughts and extreme heat affecting hundreds of millions of people.
Despite this warning the government is enthusiastically supporting fracking – a huge investment in more carbon being pumped into our atmosphere.
Green Cllr Simon Pickering said, “Previously we would detail how the Government is failing to meet its carbon targets, why its expansion of Heathrow is wrong, how it is supporting the fossil fuel industry – but as the IPCC report makes clear, ‘normal’ no longer works.”
“What is required is actually simple to understand: we have to stop using fossil fuels. We have to leave it in the ground. The time for business as usual is over,” continued Cllr Pickering. “‘Green Great Britain Week’ misses the point; what is needed is a Green UK full time. Green UK requires a move to a war footing to defend our lives and our countryside, secure a transformation to clean renewable energy and protect our communities and families from the threat of extreme weather.”
According Stroud District Green Party Leader Martin Whiteside, “This self-congratulatory but well-hidden celebration ignores a long list of how government policy runs counter to clean energy and complying with the UK’s commitment as part of the Paris climate accords:
- Besides fracking, the government is pushing for expansion of air travel by building another runway at Heathrow.
- It is now nearly impossible to get permission to erect onshore wind turbines.
- Home insulation down by 95% because insulation grants have been cut.
- Transport emissions are up by 4%, and the government has recently removed the fuel duty incentive for low-pollution hybrids and cut incentives for buying hybrids and electric cars.”