george osborne

For a long time, many environmentalists were concerned that government efforts to clean up the world’s energy supply were a bit one-sided, in that we were getting on quite well with half the problem – generating clean energy. Meanwhile the other more important half – not generating dirty energy – was being largely ignored.

But here in the UK things have suddenly inverted in a dramatic fashion. Because by the end of this year, we will have 10 fewer gigawatts of coal power than we had at the start of 2015.

Tomorrow morning, the saga that is Hinkley nuclear power station is set to continue as executives from EDF will face a grilling from MPs in parliament.

If you tuned into the news this morning you might have heard how Hinkley nuclear plant has suffered a further blow. The finance director for EDF, the French energy firm that plans to build the nuclear reactor, has resigned amid rumours that going ahead with the new nuclear plant could leave the company in ruins.

Whilst the influence of George Osborne on energy and environment policies has long been of concern, the progress made on the international stage by Blair and Prescott, and on the domestic front by Miliband’s Climate Change Act, plus the restraining influence of the Lib Dems during the coalition, have meant that that the UK’s progress on climate issues has been substantial enough to take time and effort to undo.

However, Osborne has the time, and appears to be putting in the effort.

There was a time when it was rare to see solar power on rooftops here in the UK. Our cloudy skies and the high cost of panels meant the technology was out of reach in all but the sunniest parts of the country.

But over the last decade, things have changed dramatically.

Greenpeace think that energy policy the world over should be localised and democratised. Not only is it more efficient to generate power near where it’s going to be used, but giving communities some control over their power supply has numerous other advantages, many of which are being smugly illustrated on a daily basis by Germany.