MPs Call On Government To Delay 5th Carbon Budget

The Most Insane Act Ever Passed By Parliament

Ministers should delay setting stringent new climate change targets so the UK is not left taking more radical action than the rest of Europe, a group of MPs have warned. The Government is obliged under the Climate Change Act to set a target by the end of June for cutting UK carbon emissions in the period 2028-2032. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC), its official advisors, have recommended it commit to slashing emissions to 57 per cent below 1990 levels – or about a third below current levels. In a letter to energy secretary Amber Rudd, seen by the Telegraph, 15 MPs warn that setting the radical target now will simply allow other countries in Europe to get away with doing less. --Emily Gosden, The Sunday Telegraph, 15 May 2016

We, the undersigned, urge you to delay setting the Fifth Carbon Budget until EU member states have concluded their negotiations over CO2 targets for 2030. If the UK unilaterally commits to a 57% reduction before these negotiations are complete we would simply reduce the burden to be shared out among other member states. Our extra effort would result in no extra reduction in CO2 emissions across Europe as a whole – just a higher burden on British business and a lower burden on our competitors. --Letter by 15 MPs To Amber Rudd, Secretary of State, 12 May 2016

By the end of next month the most insane Act ever passed by Parliament is set to land us in a quite extraordinary situation vis-à-vis the rest of the European Union. This has nothing to do with the referendum. It has everything to do with our MPs’ obligation, under the Climate Change Act, to approve something called the “Fifth Carbon Budget”, laying down Britain’s energy policy for 12 years ahead. Not only will this be disastrous in itself. It will put us at an appalling competitive disadvantage with our EU partners. And it will make a complete mockery of pledges made by both the Chancellor, George Osborne, and our Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Amber Rudd. This is why 15 MPs, including three former Cabinet ministers, have now written to Ms Rudd asking her to delay “setting the Fifth Carbon Budget” until the EU has concluded an agreement on its own target. --Christopher Booker, The Sunday Telegraph, 15 May 2016

Planners in Yorkshire have recommended approval for an application for shale gas fracking at a site at Kirby Misperton after they concluded that the plans were in line with national planning policy and negative impacts from the development could be mitigated. The report said that planners "considered that a suitable range of planning conditions could be imposed to ensure that the development if implemented takes place in such a manner that its effects can be mitigated and controlled." --Michael Donnelly, Planning Resource, 13 May 2016

Fracking could take place in Britain this year for the first time since 2011, under plans that could get the green light from council officials this week. Gas company Third Energy is seeking planning permission to frack a shale gas well it has drilled at Kirby Misperton in Ryedale, North Yorkshire. If the company gets the go-ahead, gas from the site could be powering homes in Yorkshire before the end of this year, Rasik Valand, its chief executive, told the Telegraph. A recommendation of approval would take Britain to the verge of finally kicking off a shale gas industry that has been plagued by setbacks and delays despite the enthusiastic support of Government. --Emily Gosden, The Daily Telegraph, 8 May 2016

A new report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) found hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has pushed carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from electricity generation to the lowest levels since 1993. Fracking created immense amounts of natural gas, lowering the price and causing the amount of electricity generated from natural gas to pass the amount of electricity generated from coal for seven of the months in 2015, according to the new EIA report. The report specifies that natural gas power plants produce about 40 percent of the CO2 emitted from a coal plant creating the same amount of electricity. This caused U.S. CO2 from the electricity sector to fall by 21 percent since their high in 2005. Solar power is responsible for a mere 1 percent of declining American CO2 emissions, while natural gas is responsible for nearly 20 percent, according to a study published last November by the Manhattan Institute. For every ton of carbon dioxide cut by solar power, fracking has cut 13 tons. --Andrew Follett, The Daily Caller, 13 May 2016

There has been no departure from China’s policy of expansion of coal-fired generation capacity, and the rate of installation continues at the astronomical rates. China was responsible for 80% of the entire world’s increase in coal consumption this century and now consumes as much coal as the rest of the world combined. Coal-fired capacity has increased by 10% since 2013, and in 2015 approval was given for 155 new coal plants which themselves will have a capacity more than twice Germany’s entire capacity. Accepting the most optimistic forecasts of a shift from coal to renewables, there will still be an immense absolute growth in Chinese emissions, and so in absolute global, emissions. For the BBC to broadcast a claim that the recent decline in Chinese coal consumption means that the China excuse no longer holds without any consideration of any of this vital context is a disgrace. --David Campbell, Global Warming Policy Forum, 16 May 2016