LGA WANTS COUNCILS TO BEAT GOVERNMENT ENERGY TARGETS

The Local Government Association is trumpeting its global warming policy again in the latest edition of its weekly taxpayer funded magazine "First". See HERE. The article indicates that the LGA wants councils to try and exceed government targets on renewable energy. I have written to them as follows:

Dear Sir,

In Issue 390 article "Focus on Europe" it was said that the LGA wants "local authorities to have the ability to set [renewable energy] targets in excess of national targets". Given that many experts have said that the EU targets, adopted by our government, are impossible to achieve by 2020, how does the LGA presume that councils are going to achieve even more? Anyone can set abitrary targets, but meeting them (without massive cost implications and the risk of wrecking the economy) is an entirely different matter.

The LGA has a catchy soundbite "small change, big difference", but the reality, in my experience, is that most small changes make a small difference. The change from 2% to 15% of renewable energy would be a massive change, requiring immense cost. It is now becoming clear that there is no consensus that CO2 levels are causing significant climate change. Indeed global warming has stopped for almost a decade. Also there is no binding international agreement to limit CO2, so for the EU to act unilaterally without firm commitment from developing countries such as India and China will cause no reduction in CO2 anyway.

All pain with no gain.

Cllr. Derek Tipp (New Forest DC)

I doubt whether they will publish it, but I will let readers know if they do. I believe it is important for us to challenge these organisations and policies as often and as prominently as we can. Unless the public are made aware of what is going on, and the damage that it is going to cause, then policy change will be impossible. Too many councillors are ambivalent about this and do not want to admit (or even accept) the potential disaster of attempts to rapidly de-carbonise our economy.