UK Energy Bill: Why No CO2 Target?

The Energy Bill is currently going through it's various 'reading' in parliament before going into law. On Tuesday 4th June, Tim Yeo, a Conservative MP, attempted to get an amendment passed which would set a carbon emissions target for 2030.

Unfortunately, the goverment (a coalition between the Conservatives and LibDems) don't want a target and instructed their MPs to vote against the amendment. Despite that, there was a mini-rebellion, with both Conservatives and LibDems joining the opposition Labour MPs to vote in favour. The amendment failed by just 23 votes.

So why were the self-proclaimed 'greenest government ever' against this target which would have completely de-carbonised UK electicity by 2030?

Well, they argue that it would put too many restrictions on business at a time of economic difficulty. This despite the fact that many UK businesses were lobbying for the amendment to be passed.

Many, myself included, feel the government has missed an opportunity here. Setting such a target would have:

• Sent out a strong message to the rest of the World that we are serious about climate change.
• Made sure we meet our legal commitment to cut our carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 (The government has been warned that we will have to de-carbonise energy production by 2030 if we are to have any chance of meeting that 80% target).
• Sent a strong market signal to potential investors in our growing renewables industry (One of the few areas of strong growth in our economy in the last few years), providing jobs, much needed economic activity, and give the UK a chance to take a bigger slice of the enormous worldwide market in renewables.

So what's going on? Well, as I said in this post the Chancellor, George Osborne, is hell-bent on commiting the UK to a new dash-for-gas. He knows damn well that if this amendment had gone through, it would have effectively killed off his plan because no investor is going to commit to building new gas-fueled power stations if they're to be phased out by 2030.

In effect, the "greenest ever" government are giving the 2050 target the finger.

More background here.