Environmentalists say the Prime Minister’s public stance on green issues lies in tatters this weekend after two pollution-related rows erupted in Kent.
The attack came after the introduction of Government-approved, above-inflation train fare hikes which critics warned would force rail commuters back into cars.
The Government also appeared to give tacit support to plans for a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth.
Campaigners say both would result in more carbon emissions, undermining the Government’s recently agreed targets on climate change.
Dr Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MEP for the South East, said Gordon Brown “has no claim to climate change credentials”.
“This has reinforced my perception that this government seems to be living in two parallel universes,” she told Kent on Sunday.
“In one it has its rhetoric about climate change and its Climate Change Bill, yet in the other universe there is no indication they’re taking it seriously at all.”
A Greenpeace spokesman said: “Both the allowed increases in rail fares and the serious consideration of the first coal-fired power station in more than 30 years are indicative of this government’s incoherence on climate change.
“On the one hand they’re urging us, the public, to turn down our thermostats, to fly less and to drive less and on the other hand they’re allowing train fares to rise and building new runways for airports and new power stations.”
Tory-controlled Medway Council this week voted 13-3 to give the green light to plans to build the coal-fired station. It received more than 9,000 objections to the planning application.
The Kingsnorth plan now goes to the Government for final approval.
Although it has refused to comment specifically on Kingsnorth, a statement by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) suggested it was being seriously considered.
It said: “While many of the UK’s coal stations are due to close over the next five to 10 years, it remains an important part of our energy mix as we develop lower carbon forms of power.”
It is conceivable the matter will go to a public inquiry – which would be time-consuming and very expensive for all parties.
A DBERR spokesman said: “Medway’s decision means an inquiry is not automatically triggered, but the Secretary of State still has discretion to review in light of objections from other parties. The Secretary of State will want to carefully consider all representations.”
The spokesman said the station, if it went ahead, would harness new Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology that could greatly reduce CO2 emissions spewing into the environment.
Energy company E.on, which wants to build the station, said it would produce two million tonnes of carbon dioxide less every year than the existing plant.
A spokeswoman said: “That is equal to taking half a million cars off UK roads every year. Kingsnorth will be 20 per cent more efficient than existing plants, that is a significant amount.”
But the Conservatives questioned the readiness of the technology.
Alan Duncan, the Tory Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, said: “E.on’s arguments that Kingsnorth is going to be much cleaner are totally unconvincing, the Government has made a complete botch of carbon capture and there’s no chance of CCS for many years.
“Kingsnorth is the most dirty of all the available options for a new power station, but if this is to go ahead the Government must take the opportunity to develop green coal.”
Dr James Hansen, the head of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and one of the world’s leading climate change scientists, has written to Gordon Brown warning that his energy policy could be “a tipping point for the world”.
He said: “Your leadership is needed on a matter concerning coal-fired power plants in your country, a matter with ramifications for life on our planet, including all species.”
The developments come against a backdrop of declining North Sea gas and oil supplies and the closure of several UK power stations. The current Kingsnorth station is due to close by 2015.
The Government is keen on building new power stations in order to secure the UK’s energy supply so that the country is not reliant on importing energy from foreign states.
It is soon expected to announce a new programme to build four new £2 billion nuclear plants shortly.
One likely site is Dungeness, where both British Energy and French firm EDF Energy have expressed a desire to build a third reactor.
POSTED: 06/01/2008 09:00:00
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