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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/16/dont-blame-green-targets-grenfell-insulation-saves-lives
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Don’t blame green targets for Grenfell – insulation saves lives | Don’t blame green targets for Grenfell – insulation saves lives |
| (17 days later) | |
| As the London Fire Brigade’s dogs and drones searched the ruins of Grenfell Tower in west London, Friday’s Daily Mail chose to lead its coverage with the question: “Were green targets to blame?” Reading out headlines on Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning, you could hear the scorn in John Humphrys’s voice as he quoted “green energy ticks” in the Sun. So was this disaster, as rightwing newspapers have been quick to suggest, the fault of what former prime minister David Cameron was once said to have termed “green crap” – some unnecessarily expensive, lefty lifestyle fad? | As the London Fire Brigade’s dogs and drones searched the ruins of Grenfell Tower in west London, Friday’s Daily Mail chose to lead its coverage with the question: “Were green targets to blame?” Reading out headlines on Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning, you could hear the scorn in John Humphrys’s voice as he quoted “green energy ticks” in the Sun. So was this disaster, as rightwing newspapers have been quick to suggest, the fault of what former prime minister David Cameron was once said to have termed “green crap” – some unnecessarily expensive, lefty lifestyle fad? |
| No. In fact, it takes a very particular type of blinkeredness to try to pin the Grenfell fire on energy-efficiency measures. That is because insulation, done properly, saves lives. As we try to see what we can learn from this disaster, it’s vital we’re clear on this. Insulation is a way of tackling both cold homes and climate change, both of which disproportionately affect poorer people. | No. In fact, it takes a very particular type of blinkeredness to try to pin the Grenfell fire on energy-efficiency measures. That is because insulation, done properly, saves lives. As we try to see what we can learn from this disaster, it’s vital we’re clear on this. Insulation is a way of tackling both cold homes and climate change, both of which disproportionately affect poorer people. |
| Fitting insulation badly, without decent regulations, can be incredibly dangerous. And we now know that the cladding used on Grenfell was done using a flammable material of a type that is banned on tall buildings in countries including the US and Germany. | Fitting insulation badly, without decent regulations, can be incredibly dangerous. And we now know that the cladding used on Grenfell was done using a flammable material of a type that is banned on tall buildings in countries including the US and Germany. |
| The health impacts of cold homes aren’t always obvious. But year after year, the death toll creeps up. The Association for the Conservation of Energy has claimed that between 2010 and 2015, 46,700 people in the UK died due to living in a cold home. | The health impacts of cold homes aren’t always obvious. But year after year, the death toll creeps up. The Association for the Conservation of Energy has claimed that between 2010 and 2015, 46,700 people in the UK died due to living in a cold home. |
| We know living in cold homes can worsen chronic lung disease, asthma, arthritis and rheumatism. It also reduces our ability to fight off infection. It’s sometimes characterised as a problem for the over-65s, but as a 2011 Institute of Health Equity report stressed, children living in cold homes are more than twice as likely to suffer from respiratory problems, and there are clear negative effects of cold housing and fuel poverty on the mental health of adolescents. The government’s Fuel Poverty Action Group estimates that cold homes cost the NHS around £1.3bn every year. | We know living in cold homes can worsen chronic lung disease, asthma, arthritis and rheumatism. It also reduces our ability to fight off infection. It’s sometimes characterised as a problem for the over-65s, but as a 2011 Institute of Health Equity report stressed, children living in cold homes are more than twice as likely to suffer from respiratory problems, and there are clear negative effects of cold housing and fuel poverty on the mental health of adolescents. The government’s Fuel Poverty Action Group estimates that cold homes cost the NHS around £1.3bn every year. |
| The cost of energy in the UK is actually pretty cheap, relatively speaking. Per unit of energy we pay a lot less than customers in other European countries. And yet many people in the UK struggle with bills because we have to buy so much energy just to keep our homes the right side of bitterly cold. The National Children’s Bureau estimates 3.8 million children in England live in families that are struggling to pay energy bills. | The cost of energy in the UK is actually pretty cheap, relatively speaking. Per unit of energy we pay a lot less than customers in other European countries. And yet many people in the UK struggle with bills because we have to buy so much energy just to keep our homes the right side of bitterly cold. The National Children’s Bureau estimates 3.8 million children in England live in families that are struggling to pay energy bills. |
| The UK’s homes are some of the leakiest in Europe – each winter our windows, doors, walls and floors bleed thermal energy, and our gas, electricity and money with it. | The UK’s homes are some of the leakiest in Europe – each winter our windows, doors, walls and floors bleed thermal energy, and our gas, electricity and money with it. |
| But the speed of action on this has been glacial. The government has a legal target to use energy-efficiency measures to lift homes out of fuel poverty by 2030. However, as National Energy Action argued before Christmas, current progress is so slow that this target won’t be met for 80 years. Anyway, the target is nowhere near enough if we are really serious about tackling the health problems caused by cold homes as well as doing something about climate change by shrinking the carbon bomb of all that wasted energy. | But the speed of action on this has been glacial. The government has a legal target to use energy-efficiency measures to lift homes out of fuel poverty by 2030. However, as National Energy Action argued before Christmas, current progress is so slow that this target won’t be met for 80 years. Anyway, the target is nowhere near enough if we are really serious about tackling the health problems caused by cold homes as well as doing something about climate change by shrinking the carbon bomb of all that wasted energy. |
| People should not have to choose between staying warm and the risk of fire. The factors contributing to the Grenfell disaster might still be unclear but it looks as though they resemble the causes of deaths in cold homes – cutting corners, cutting budgets, lack of housing regulation, and a lack of concern for poorer people’s lives. | People should not have to choose between staying warm and the risk of fire. The factors contributing to the Grenfell disaster might still be unclear but it looks as though they resemble the causes of deaths in cold homes – cutting corners, cutting budgets, lack of housing regulation, and a lack of concern for poorer people’s lives. |