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.

Outbreak of commonsense!

Against a long backdrop of the LibLabConsensus trying to out-do each other in the MMGW-f***wittery stakes, comes this in today's FT:

Hutton eyes coal to replace imports of gas

John Hutton, business secretary, yesterday paved the way for a new generation of coal-fired power stations, claiming Britain could not wait for new clean-coal technology to come on stream... He said the Conservative policy on these plants - which would place a limit on carbon emissions - was "a potential threat to our energy security"... But 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."

What a turnaround! It only seems like a few days ago that The Goblin King heralded windpower as The Next Big Thing ... oh, it was.

Of course, John Hutton seems to have overlooked the EU's Large Combustion Plants Directive, which means we can't build them anyway, but hey.