True leadership on Climate Change
Last Tuesday, I joined over seventy campaigners for a “Climate Conversation” at County Hall. It is almost five years since Cornwall Councillors voted to declare a Climate Emergency, and we now have a planning policy in place which will ensure all new homes in Cornwall are entirely self-sufficient, with low energy bills and zero carbon emissions. Sadly, a lack of support from central Government means this has not been matched by action to insulate the 250,000 homes which already exist in Cornwall nor to convert heating systems from oil and gas to heat pumps. Cornwall Council’s Transport Strategy aims to see 90,000 electric vehicles on our roads by 2030, but after five years, we still have fewer than 50 public rapid charging locations!
In 2021, Cornwall’s Conservative Councillors said they would work with our Conservative MPs to get everything we need from our Conservative Government, but this week, as the United Nations held a “Climate Ambition Summit” in New York, Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to throw the UK’s climate policies into reverse.
His speech was a masterclass in saying black is white, easy is hard and backwards is forwards: He began by saying “too often, motivated by short term thinking, politicians have taken the easy way out” before making a set of short-term, politically motivated announcements!
He said it’s too expensive to change our cars and our heating systems, but the cost of gas, petrol and diesel have been the single biggest cause of the cost of living crisis! He said he’s saving us from the cost of switching, but he’s actually condemning the poorest households to being stuck with cold, damp homes and high energy bills for another decade.
Even car manufacturers and energy companies have criticised Sunak’s U-turn. A week ago, the UK was the leader of the pack, so it made sense for businesses to build their EVs, battery plants and wind turbines here. But if Sunak says we should go no faster than anyone else, why should businesses invest here rather than in France, Germany or Denmark?
Thank goodness the Liberal Democrats understand what real leadership looks like. In Government from 2010 to 2015, we quadrupled offshore wind generation, making the UK the world leader and driving down the cost of renewables so they are now cheaper than gas.
And this weekend at our annual party conference, Liberal Democrat members voted to “Place tackling the climate crisis at the heart of our agenda, including investing in renewable power and home insulation, driving a strong economic recovery, bringing down energy bills, creating clean, secure, well-paid new jobs and leading international efforts to address the emergency globally”.
What’s good for the planet is also good for Cornish families, British businesses and global security. Politicians who say otherwise are a threat to us all.