Wednesday 10 September 2008

What a difference two-and-a-half years make ...

Alan Duncan MP speaks:

"The economics are absolutely crucial. The only power station anyone's going to build in a free market at the moment is a gas-fired one... If, and again this might come out of the review, it looks as though coal and oil can capture and not emit carbon, then they can contribute to an emissions target." FT 2 February 2006

"I believe that the role of Government should be to set the right framework of incentives reduce emissions, including a long term price for carbon, and ensure energy security... I believe that there is a risk that without the right framework of incentives, the default option for generators will be to invest in new gas or coal plants rather than in lower carbon emitting alternatives." ConservativeHome 14 June 2007

Alan Duncan, shadow business secretary, said the intent of the government to develop coal "at any cost", was a decision that would leave future generations with a "massive carbon headache". He added: "That means they can only keep the lights on by being dirty." FT 1 July 2008

"The Government’s attitude has set back our ability to deploy [Carbon Capture & Storage] technology by as much as a decade and, as elsewhere, is making Britain an increasingly unattractive place to invest... This is why we have pledged to fund a minimum of three CCS plants here in the UK. That’s the sort of policy ambition that UK plc needs to secure competitive advantage in the new energy economy." ConservativeHome 9 September 2008

Damn. He's actually quite consistent for a politician, albeit consistently in thrall to this Global Cooling nonsense.

2 comments:

Nick Drew said...

hmm - still doesn't add up to what I'd call a policy

& he's gonna need a good'un, or them lights will start going out on Cameron's watch

TheFatBigot said...

I wonder whether the recession will be used, as it should be, as a good reason to put all this expensive eco-wonk nonsense on the back burner:
"Much though we believe Windy Miller is the future, the technology is not there yet so we must build a coal fired station or six now and a few nuclear units. We do this with deep regret but our duty is to keep the lights on in Britain. We will keep this policy under constant review."

It's a matter of priorities, for me having heat and light far outweighs the need to reduce carbon emissions which will be dwarfed by those from China and India anyway.