Govt plan for Green Industrial Revolution won't "undo the damage" of last five years
Responding to the Government's "Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution", Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:
17 Nov 2020
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Tax vs Regulation
Introduction I recently spoke in favour of carbon taxes at two GLD events: a session at the GLD conference in the Summer, and a fringe meeting during the main party conference. Both times, the meeting agenda was somewhat changed at the last minute, taking the focus away from the advantages of Carbon tax and onto other people's concerns.
JH
17 Nov 2020
Europe and the Environment
"Stay European" Conference examines the environment... Green Liberal Democrats have been asked by the campaigning group "Stay European"* to organise a fringe session for their conference on Saturday 21st November. Rather than keeping the session to themselves "Stay European" have kindly opened the session to others who may be interested. You can register for the conference here >> https://www.stayeuropean.org/conference/ and a Zoom link will be sent to you for the meeting.
KM
17 Nov 2020
Lib Dem Peers win vote to protect tenants and leaseholders from "outrageous" fire safety costs
This evening, Liberal Democrat peers have defeated the Government to secure two changes to the Government's Fire Safety Bill, which was introduced in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy. If these changes are accepted by the Government, the amendments would: Introduce a public register for fire safety, similar to the EPC register, for prospective and current renters, leaseholders and owners (Amendment 10) Prevent freeholders passing on any remediation costs to leaseholders and tenants. (Amendment 13) The amendments, put forward by Liberal Democrat Local Government Spokesperson in the Lords Kath Pinnock, passed by 17 votes (Amendment 10) and 13 votes (Amendment 13) respectively.
LD
17 Nov 2020
Redland and Cromwell Road Parking Petition ignored by County Council for three months
A petition calling for a residents parking scheme on Cromwell Road and Redland Road in Malvern Link has still not been responded to by Worcestershire County Council after three months.
17 Nov 2020
Lib Dems call for early start to the upgrading of Gloucester Railway Station
Calls have been made for the £6 million project to upgrade Gloucester railway station to begin early next year.
17 Nov 2020
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, called on the government to provide incentives for energy providers to develop solar power in the UK.
Mrs Hobhouse slammed the government for falling behind on meeting the UK’s renewable targets for solar energy capacity. The government plans to deploy 70 GW of solar power across the country by 2035. However, as of 2022, the UK had only installed 14.3 GW of solar pv.
Following a visit to a rooftop solar system installed by Bath & West Community Energy (BWCE) at Beechen Cliff School last year, Wera Hobhouse is keen to encourage the development of similar solar projects across Bath. The solar system is predicted to significantly cut the school’s fuel costs and reduce their carbon emissions by 52 tonnes a year.
In the House of Commons on the 27th February, the Bath MP noted that the UK is lagging behind the rest of the world in renewable energy investment, she urged the government to offer incentives to energy providers to improve solar capacity.
However, Andrew Bowie, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero, ignored Hobhouse’s proposals, failing to describe the ways in which the government could incentivise solar energy. Instead, Bowie said that the government’s Solar Taskforce would publish recommendations for solar power and reiterated the government’s target to deploy 70 GW by 2035.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, commented:
“The Conservatives are falling dangerously behind on meeting our targets for renewable energy production. It is no good the government setting an ambitious 70 GW solar target if they are nowhere near reaching it.
“It is clear that they have no plan to get us back on track to reach Net Zero. Evidently, they are more than happy to dismiss perfectly good proposals like incentivising solar power. That is why I am so proud that Bath is home to many community energy projects like the solar system at Beechen Cliff School, so that we can lead the way in renewables.”
“It is not just our climate targets harmed by the Conservatives’ delay. Families in Bath and across the country are struggling to pay soaring energy bills which investment in renewables could curb. That is why we Liberal Democrats would build significantly more renewable energy, aiming to generate 80% of our electricity from renewables by 2030.”
Peter Capener, Managing Director of Bath & West Community Energy said:
“Our work with schools is really demonstrating the value of community energy in both addressing the climate crisis and reducing fuel bills. Rooftop solar installed last year has already saved local schools a combined total of £134,209 and has reduced carbon emissions by 224.3 tonnes, which is equivalent to 12,173 journeys from Bath to Edinburgh by train!”
