Eliminating dependence on gas must be top national security priority, Greens advise
28 February 2022
The Green Party has urged the government to make it a key national security objective to focus on eliminating our dependence on gas following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said:
“The latest IPCC report makes clear how humanity’s use of fossil fuels has had a devastating impact on our climate and environment. Security experts have long warned that the climate crisis is a major national security risk but Putin’s use of energy aggression in Ukraine strongly underlines this. However, our reliance on oil and gas also leaves us susceptible to major national security concerns, such as those we are currently witnessing with Russia.
“It is imperative that the government starts taking the necessary steps to wean us off this addiction to fossil fuels and develop the renewables and efficiency measures required to ensure we are not beholden to despots such as Putin.
“Our addiction to fossil fuels has encouraged us to turn a blind eye to Putin’s decades of outrages. We have encouraged Russian energy companies and Russian oligarchs and Russian energy companies into the heart of our economy and society.
“To strengthen European defences against Russian aggression we must install thousands of wind turbines, millions of new solar panels and millions of well-insulated homes. The government needs to treat this with the seriousness it deserves as a potential cause of conflict in the near future.”
ENDS