Commenting on news today that Prime Minister David Cameron is considering including a cap on onshore wind farms in the Tory election manifesto and that the government is planning to change trespass law to allow companies to frack under people's homes without their permission, Greenpeace UK Executive Director John Sauven said:
“Cameron’s election manifesto is shaping up to be a sure-fire formula to undermine our energy security, drive more climate change, and wreck our countryside.
“The ink has barely dried on a UN report warning about the impacts of climate change, and Britain’s flood-hit communities are still cleaning up. Yet the government is talking of scrapping onshore wind farms, the cheapest source of clean energy we have, and bulldozing through plans to dig up more polluting fossil fuels through fracking.
“The government is once again prioritising short-term political gain over Britain’s long-term safety and energy security.”
On Fracking
“The government is effectively trying to open up a legal loophole to undermine the last defence people have against the threat of fracking. But stripping away homeowners’ rights to make way for the industrialisation of the countryside is hardly a blueprint for electoral success in the Tory shires.
“There’s now a constituency of over 40,000 people who have joined the Greenpeace legal block to stop companies fracking under people’s homes, and the number keeps growing every time ministers talk about fracking.
“Ministers will have a fight on their hand if they try to push this through.”
On onshore wind
“Onshore wind farms are the cheapest source of clean energy, and it’s home-grown. Cutting it back will simply leave our country more dependent on costly fossil fuel imports, including Russian coal, at a time when Europe’s top priority must be to cut our reliance on them.
“Instead of creating more pollution from fracking our countryside we need to start slashing energy waste and investing in renewables. These are the most practical ways we have to boost our energy security.”
ENDS
Contact: Stefano Gelmini, 07506 512 442
