George Osborne is leading a concerted push to dismantle the Government’s commitment to wind farms and other forms of green energy, his father-in-law has revealed. Lord Howell, a former Foreign Office minister, was filmed in an undercover sting by environmental group Greenpeace claiming that the Chancellor is ‘putting pressure’ on David Cameron who ‘does not understand the issue’. --Jason Groves,
Daily Mail, 15 November 2012
George Osborne’s father-in-law has fuelled the civil war within the Coalition Government - and between rival wings of the Conservative Party - over energy policy by claiming that the Chancellor is privately manoeuvring to undermine David Cameron’s climate change promises. --Neil Morris & Kevin Rawlinson,
The Independent, 15 November 2012
Make no mistake, there will be plenty on the Conservative backbenchers who will be secretly cheering Mr Heaton-Harris for trying to push the anti-wind farm cause up the political agenda. One senior backbencher told me: “He’s a silly bugger but it’s no big deal. Chris is popular and respected for his consistent line on wind farms.” Nevertheless, the sting does of course also serve to remind people that David Cameron prioritising environmental issues – complete with the green tree Conservative party logo – is a distant memory. --Sophy Ridge,
Sky News, 14 November 2012
Some of Britain’s biggest companies may be forced to move to the US or Eastern Europe, where energy costs are dramatically lower, the Energy Intensive Users Group is warning this weekend. Jeremy Nicholson, director of the powerful lobby group that campaigns for companies in the steel, chemical and glass industries, said that British companies could not compete against US groups because their energy costs were four times cheaper. --Tom McGhie,
Daily Mail, 11 November 2012.
EU Energy Commissioner, Günther Oettinger, rails at every opportunity against growing nationalism in the electricity sector. And much to the dismay of environmentalists, he particularly disapproves of the unregulated proliferation of green energy subsidies. Member states may soon face a ban on domestic subsidy initiatives, including some that are already well established. For Germany, the law on the promotion of alternative energies, which prompted a boom in wind and solar power as well as a hike in electricity prices in recent years, could be at stake. --
PressEurop, 13 November 2012
Climate change has never been at the top of President Obama’s priority list, and on Wednesday he made it plain that isn’t about to change in his second term. What’s obvious is that no one should expect a serious push for a comprehensive climate policy from the White House anytime soon. And it means that dreams of a carbon tax, which policy experts from the left and center have been touting for years—and which had just this week re-entered the mainstream political discourse thanks to Hurricane Sandy and the fiscal cliff—have been extinguished once again. -- Will Oremus,
Slate, 14 November 2012
The President of the forthcoming UN Climate Change Summit in Qatar says shale gas is “good news” and will ensure global energy security for the next 300 years. In comments which raise serious questions over Qatar’s ambitions for the COP18 negotiations, which start in Doha on November 26, His Excellency Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, deputy Prime Minister of the Gulf state, said the exploitation of unconventional sources of fossil fuels would be good for consumers. --Ed King,
RTCC News, 13 November 2012
