I have long said that the Liberal Democrats are greener than the Green Party. Today, Chris Huhne showed us why.
The Green New Deal
This is the plan, it’s where it’s at. This is what Lib Dems were suggesting in the run up to the election, and it’s going to rock your world. Literally; guys are going to come into your house and insulate it for free, and then a couple of years later, your energy bill will fall.
Not just if you have cavity walls, not just if you live in a city, not just anything. Every home in the UK will be insulated by this programme.
Some details for you:
- Finance doesn’t come from tax but from energy companies, who will split the savings on your heating bill with you until the cost is payed off.
- It is secured against your energy supply not your home, so it doesn’t show up on credit checks, and isn’t debt.
- On some homes, for example people in fuel poverty, there are no savings to be made, as people will just be able to heat their home to a proper temperature where previously it was too cold. This is fine; the cost is absorbed by the government.
- The policy will stimulate a huge boost to the industry, and the expertise and jobs gains will allow excellent export opportunities when British companies become world-leading experts on insulating “difficult” homes.
- Australia tried a smaller version of this, and there were lots of amateurs who killed themselves by drilling into wires. This scheme will require businesses to conform to industry wide standards; “no cowboys”.
- Public Buildings and small businesses will also be eligible for the funding, although larger companies will have to invest themselves.
I think that if Rt Hon Chris Huhne can deliver this it is an exciting time to be an environmentalist in Britain, bringing together economic stimulus and green jobs, with a 30% cut in our carbon emissions which is currently wasted heating our energy inefficient homes. The soundbite to remember here, is “standing on your doorstep burning £50 notes”.
The Other Stuff
Chris also told us about a load of other stuff, which I won’t go into here, but is the equivalent of the Lib Dem Manifesto in whitehall – a green thread running through every department, each with their own goals, coordinated by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change himself.
The UN
However, Chris gets a slap on the wrist when it comes to the international problem of a Kyoto Replacement; a legal vehicle to guide our governments worldwide through the next turbulent 50 years. After the disaster at COP15 in Copenhagen (have a read of my old blog in the links if you want to see what I thought of it all at the time), we need to keep up the sense of urgency for COP16 in Cancun in November this year – which was entirely ommitted from Huhne’s speech.
I interviewed him earlier in the week about the subject, so I know why he’s keeping quiet. While the Mid Terms are going on in America, Obama is powerless to push Climate Change legislation through congress. If he can’t push a bill into law, he can’t offer anything to the Chinese, which means the talks are doomed from the outset.
Chris thinks that we need to build up a Europe-wide consensus, so that we can go in with a 30%-cut-by-2020 offer in Cape Town in 2012, when Obama might have sorted out some legislation. Is that too late? Probably. But it is the best we are going to get.
If you have the time, resources and inclination, I think the best thing that anyone could do right now is go to the USA and campaign for Democratic congress candidates in the mid term elections in November. Hopefully the Tea Party will cost the Republicans seats, but do you want to bet the planet’s climate on that being enough?
