Corbyn officially launched his new green agenda in Nottingham on Wednesday (7 September), pledging to generate 300,000 jobs in the renewable sector as well as establishing a target of generating 65% of the UK’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030. Alongside those two landmark promises, the Labour Leader would also seek to turn the country into a world leader in green technology, immediately reinstate the recently-abolished Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), ban fracking and shut down all coal-fired power stations. But while Corbyn has vowed to “protect the future of our planet, with social justice at the heart of our environment policies”, green groups and organisations have questioned the Labour leader’s ability to bring about dramatic and transformational change. Fresh from controversially labelling the National Grid’s demand response aspirations as “fanciful nonsense”, the union for energy workers GMB has warned that Corbyn’s “wishful thinking” wouldn’t keep the lights on and keep the economy functioning. “Everyone gets how, over time, renewable energy sources have an important role to play in a sensibly conceived mixed energy policy,” GMB’s national secretary for energy Justin Bowden said. “However, wishful thinking doesn’t generate the power we need to heat homes, keep the lights on and the economy functioning; this means that until there are technological breakthroughs in carbon capture or solar storage then gas and nuclear power are the only reliable, low-carbon shows in town for all those days when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow.
Edie 8th Sept 2016 read more »