8 September 2022

• Truss plan leaves energy unaffordable for millions of households
• Only renewables and insulating people’s homes will help tackle both cost of living crisis and climate crisis

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay has slammed the Prime Minister’s plan to cap energy costs through an increase in government debt while pushing for exploiting more oil and gas.

Ramsay said:

“The Truss plan still leaves energy unaffordable for millions of households. It risks forcing many people to choose whether to heat or eat this winter. This is why the Green Party has proposed to cap energy prices at the October 2021 level of £1,277.

“Nor is there any plan to insulate our leaky homes to make them warmer and healthier and hardly anything on investing in renewables – the cheapest way to generate electricity.

“The plan to grant 100 new licences to oil and gas companies to expand their climate destroying industry and continue raking in eye watering dirty profits is inexplicable while we still hold the COP Presidency, and when we know that renewables are far cheaper. 

“The only logical explanation for this reckless plan, along with cutting the so-called green levy, is that Truss is making an ideological choice to curry favour with friends and Tory Party donors in the oil and gas industry. 

“The decision to end the ban on fracking will only deepen our country’s dependence on fossil fuels, will not bring down fuel bills for people who are struggling, and will cause yet more damage to local communities and to the climate. Even the outgoing Prime Minister described such a plan as ‘dubious.’ [2]

“The most effective and sustainable way of bringing down the cost of living is to invest in insulating houses and massively ramping up renewable energy. Fracking is an expensive and dangerous distraction from that urgent goal.

“Greens have a fair plan to tackle energy costs now, create lower bills in future and ensure we move towards a cleaner, greener and cheaper energy supply.” 

The Green Party has proposed to cap energy prices at the October 2021 level of £1,277 while higher income households pay progressively more as they use more energy [1]. The plan would be funded by a heavier windfall tax on the fossil fuel industry and taxes on the wealthy. The Greens are also pressing for a nationwide insulation programme and large scale investment in renewables.

ENDS

Notes

1

Greens call for Big Five energy companies to be brought into public ownership to stabilise market and protect consumers | The Green Party

For more information or to arrange an interview contact the press office on press@greenparty.org.uk or call 0203 691 9401

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5 September 2022

The Green Party has warned the Liz Truss premiership risks further fueling the climate crisis and worsening inequality throughout the country. 

The Greens are calling on the new prime minister to deal with the immediate fallout of the cost of living crisis and tackle the climate emergency by lowering the energy price cap to the October 2021 rate, beginning a massive nationwide insulation programme, and investing in more renewable energy [1].

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said: 

“Liz Truss being selected to become Prime Minister, by such a small and unrepresentative group of people, is a disaster for the UK and the climate.

“Truss’ reported plans to encourage the oil and gas industry to extract more fossil fuels from the North Sea [2] will do nothing to help households as they struggle with eye-watering energy bills this winter, but will fuel the climate crisis. 

“Burning more fossil fuels will simply speed up climate breakdown, giving us more extreme heat, floods, storms and food shortages in the UK and across the world. 

“This reckless plan, along with promises to cut the so-called green levy, demonstrates that Truss is making an ideological choice to curry favour with friends and Tory Party donors in the oil and gas industry. 

“What is needed is to return energy to a more affordable level, which is why the Green Party  has put forward its proposal to restore the energy price cap to the October 2021 rate of £1,277 and implement rapid investment in a nationwide home insulation programme while developing more renewable energy.  This will provide the immediate action needed to help people right now, as well as looking ahead to ensure costs and emissions are kept to a minimum in the years to come.

“We can invest in a cleaner, greener, more affordable future. Whether we do so is a political choice. We urge Liz Truss to take a path that helps create a fairer society while tackling the climate crisis.”  

ENDS

Notes

1

https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/08/17/greens-call-for-big-five-energy-companies-to-be-brought-into-public-ownership/

2

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/30/liz-truss-oil-drilling-tory-leadership-energy

For more information or to arrange an interview contact the press office on press@greenparty.org.uk or call 0203 691 9401

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1 September 2022

Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, has the following response to the decision today to approve the construction of Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk: 

“Sizewell C is massively costly, achingly slow, and carries huge unnecessary risks. Its approval marks Boris Johnson taking one final opportunity to kick the public in the teeth before his departure as Prime Minister.  

“This project is expected to cost up to £30 billion; and in following the Regulated Asset Base business model, it will pass that enormous upfront cost directly onto the consumer. As energy bills soar ever higher and this lame duck Government leaves people in the lurch, the last thing the public needs right now is a massively costly nuclear white elephant. Even cabinet ministers are already expressing reservations about its value for money. 

“When we need oven-ready solutions to delivering energy security and slashing bills, Sizewell C simply is not one of them. Hinkley Point C will have taken the best part of two decades to go from planning to production, and it’s still years behind schedule. This Sizewell plant could take anywhere between 10-17 years to build. 

“Meanwhile, there are hundreds of energy-saving options and clean, cheap and home-grown renewable projects ready to go – yet solar farms are being refused at their highest rate for five years, the Government has utterly failed to adopt a retrofit revolution to slash energy bills, and now Tory leadership candidates are vowing to block onshore wind power which could be operational within days. 

“Rubber stamping Sizewell C is simply Boris Johnson’s woeful final attempt at making his Prime Ministerial mark – it’s befitting of him that this vanity project is the wrong answer at the wrong time.” 

Julian Cusack, chair of Suffolk Coastal Green Party, said: “For Boris Johnson to claim Sizewell C as his legacy is just outrageous. It is the wrong and unproven technology in the wrong place and will deliver the most expensive electricity sometime in the next decade. It is totally irrelevant to today’s energy cost crisis and will do wanton damage to prized landscapes and fragile local communities.”

ENDS 

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30 August 2022

Commenting on the unprecedented floods in Pakistan [1], Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said:

“The scale of the floods in Pakistan – with an area the size of the UK under water – are almost beyond comprehension. It resembles a disaster movie, but tragically this is the reality of the climate crisis. We’re all seeing the impact of this emergency more and more at home in the UK, but as climate scientists have warned, the most brutal impacts are being experienced by poorer countries who have actually contributed a lot less to global CO2 emissions. 

“Not only must richer countries honour previous pledges to provide “loss and damage” funding for poorer countries, but the issue must be centre stage at this year’s climate talks in Egypt. We need to see a commitment to much greater levels of funding for poorer countries – delivered as grants, not loans, to prevent over-burdening these countries with debt [2]. 

“With its strong ties to Pakistan, and being one of the top 10 historical polluters, the UK has a particular responsibility to support the country to cope with this unprecedented tragedy affecting millions of people. The colonialism of the past also means the UK government needs to ensure it pays for ‘climate reparations’ [3].”

Notes

[1] Pakistan floods are ‘a monsoon on steroids’, warns UN chief

[2] COP26 agreement fails key climate tests but there is hope to salvage summit’s legacy, says Green Party

[3] COP26: For climate justice to be achieved, the UK needs to pay for the damage the British Empire caused (inews.co.uk)

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26 August 2022

• Green Party calls on government to return price cap to October 2021 level
• Carla Denyer: “The way forward is clear – a nationwide home insulation scheme and large scale investment in renewable energy. The longer the government delays on this, the longer it will put the UK at the mercy of volatile energy prices and climate damaging fossil fuels”

Responding to Ofgem’s announcement that the new energy price cap will rise to £3,549 between October and December [1], Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said:

“This latest rise in the price cap is a horrifying blow to households across the country and a reminder of just how broken our energy system is.

“Without proper intervention, people are going to die as a result of these unaffordable energy prices. Yet the government continues to sit on its hands, offering no help and no reassurance to the millions of people who are wondering how they are going to survive this winter.

“Only the government can make an intervention of the scale and speed required to help people through this crisis. We need to return the price cap back to what it was in October 2021, so that it is much more affordable for more people, and allow the government to absorb the global price rises through taxing the huge profits of the oil and gas companies.

“We will then need to bring the big five energy retailers into public ownership to stabilise the market and lay the groundwork for the huge investment we need to see in renewables and insulating peoples’ homes, starting as soon as possible. [2]

“But it’s not just households suffering from these price rises. After years of austerity, public services and small businesses are also at serious risk. We want to see more support for small businesses, and local authorities need to be properly funded and given the autonomy to make the best decisions for their local communities.

“Ultimately, renewables are the cheapest form of energy, and the cheapest bill of all is the one you don’t have to pay because your home is well insulated and efficient. So, the way forward is clear – a nationwide home insulation scheme and large scale investment in renewable energy. The longer the government delays on this, the longer it will put the UK at the mercy of volatile energy prices and climate damaging fossil fuels.”

ENDS

Notes

1

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/aug/26/ofgem-raises-energy-price-cap-to-3549

2

https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/08/17/greens-call-for-big-five-energy-companies-to-be-brought-into-public-ownership/

For more information or to arrange an interview contact the press office on press@greenparty.org.uk or call 0203 691 9401

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