Green Party co-leader has
welcomed the confirmation that the long-running opposition to
wind power by the Conservative Party has finally been reversed.
The Prime Minister is today due to promise to power every home in
the UK with offshore wind energy by 2030.[1]
Reacting to the news, Bartley said:
“For decades, Greens have been arguing that the UK is ideally
placed to become a world leader in onshore and offshore
windpower.
“But we have battled opposition from Conservative MPs locally and
nationally as they sheltered their fossil fuel friends. Johnson’s
support for wind power suggests that the transition to green
energy is now irreversible.
“However, the level of investment proposed by the Prime Minister
is nowhere near matching his rhetoric. The £160m for wind power
due to be announced today falls far short of the £48bn that
analysts say is necessary [2]. The Government needs to set out
where this investment will come from.
“Nor will it provide what we need to power every sector of the
economy, most notably transport. The Green Party proposes that
70% of the country’s electricity should be provided by wind by
2030. The Government’s proposals fall far short of this.
“And we need to connect the support for wind farms with an
industrial strategy that means the jobs making the blades and
towers of the wind farms are made in the UK. An economic and
industrial conversion on this scale is what Greens mean by
building back better.”
ENDS
Notes
1
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54421489
2
Analysis source: https://www.auroraer.com/insight/reaching-40gw-offshore-wind/
