Bishop Hill Greenpeace labouring night and day to make you colder and poorer
Feb 28, 2013 Climate: Parliament Via a correspondent, Greenpeace's latest mailing, about Tim Yeo's efforts to secure a decarbonisation target in the Energy Bill and put our fuel bills up even higher:
This is massive. So far, 267 MPs have shown support for clean electricity after more than 20,000 of us emailed them over the past 10 days. 326 is our target - a majority of Parliament. It's not going to be easy, but we can do this.
We’ve got Conservative, Labour and Green MPs to support this critical amendment to the Energy Bill - the one that will clean up our electricity for the next 30 years. But here's the shocker: despite some promises only a single Liberal Democrat MP has signed it so far.[1] Just one! To get that vital majority we need to get Lib Dem MPs on side.
Please donate just £20 towards our 'Fighting Fund' so we can continue to lobby Lib Dem MPs on the ground.
The deep irony is that the Liberal Democrats were the original champions of the zero-carbon target in the Energy Bill. Only 5 months ago the whole party voted to support it.
The upcoming Lib Dem spring conference - when party members get together - is a huge opportunity to pressure them to stick to their principles. We need your support so we can take the strongest possible message - Greenpeace style - into the heart of their meeting. Please contribute what you can to help.
Let's get the Lib Dems to sort it out and join all of us who realise that if there's one issue bigger than politics, it’s climate change. Let's keep that pressure on,
Pete and the Energy team
Greenpeace
[1] Julian Huppert - Liberal Democrat MP for CambridgePS Last year, 21 people from No Dash for Gas shut down a gas power station for a week. Now its owner, EDF, is suing them for £5 million - a day's profit for this massive company but a lifetime of debt for the activists. EDF is trying to stamp out protest and we can’t let that happen. Please take a moment to help No Dash For Gas by signing their petition here.
It's hugely encouraging that so few LibDems have signed up for the "lights out" amendment. Surely they can't have found their collective backbone?
Reader Comments (53)
News from "across the pond:" Another Cape Cod community discusses taking two wind turbines down. They were suppose to make the town money, however, (apparently due to noise issues,) they can only run 12 hours a day, and therefore lose the town money each day they run. Green dreamers are always shocked when practicality rears its ugly head.
http://sunriseswansong.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/wind-turbine-to-bankrupt-falmouth/
I lifted Phil's e-mail text, and added some extra verbage of my own.
I emailed my MP, Graham Brady (1922 Committee)
Reply below. I shall await an update on what he gets back from Davey...
************************************************************
GRAHAM BRADY MP
Member for Altrincham & Sale West Constituency
Tel. 0207 219 1260
Our ref: XXXXXXX
Dear Mr XXXXXXXX
Thank you for your email. I have written to Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, asking him for his view on the proposed amendment. Obviously cleaner electricity production is desirable but must be balanced against the increasing danger of energy shortages in the United Kingdom within a few years and the very serious problem of increasing costs for domestic consumers and for businesses. Before supporting a statutory target I would want to be reassured on both these counts.
Many thanks for taking the trouble to write.
Best wishes,
Graham Brady MP
Two of the EDF protestors were feted on BBC's 'The Big Questions' this morning (Sunday 3 March).
'Should protestors be sued'.
Should be available on iPlayer soon.
Worth watching, to see how confused they are.