Environmental Graffiti

After being outed by documents leaked to the Guardian newspaper yesterday, the British government admitted that it is abandoning its policy of having 20% of Britain’s energy supply from renewable sources by 2020.

In a bit of confusing political gibberish, Energy Minister Malcolm Wick said that Britain would have 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, but that lowering the percentage did not actually mean it was backing away from the 20% EU target.

Mr. Wick pointed out that the Brussels deal on renewable targets did not say that all EU members had to have 20% of energy from renewable sources, so long as Europe as a whole achieved this target.

This comes in the wake of the Guardian’s report yesterday, in which leaked briefing documents showed the government planned to reduce the severity of climate change pledges, and that they were seeking much lower targets before they have to sign binding agreements in December.

Wick argued that Britain is still committed to fighting climate change, stating that: “At the end of the day, renewables is a means to an end. The end is bringing down carbon emissions.” He says that they are negotiating with the EU on their renewables target, and that it will still be a significant figure even with the lower target.

The climate change initiatives to be reduced were agreed to by former Prime Minister Tony Blair. They have been found by the administration to be too expensive and encumbered with practical difficulties.

The report suggests that raising the renewable energy level in the UK from its current 2% to a still low level of 9% by 2020 would cost £4 billion. Renewable energy in the UK is still in its infancy when compared to many European nations, particularly in the popular wind and marine power areas.

Source: Guardian

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