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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2013/jun/27/coalition-teamwork-greenest-government
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| Does the coalition have the teamwork to be the greenest government? | Does the coalition have the teamwork to be the greenest government? |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| It turns out that the coalition government does, after all, have the desire to be the "greenest ever". The question now is whether they have the teamwork to complete the journey. | It turns out that the coalition government does, after all, have the desire to be the "greenest ever". The question now is whether they have the teamwork to complete the journey. |
| Their challenge is to complete an arduous expedition in that unknown territory called the future, with unfamiliar kit and no reliable map. | Their challenge is to complete an arduous expedition in that unknown territory called the future, with unfamiliar kit and no reliable map. |
| Ministers must arrive at the destination of a clean energy system fit for the 21st century and sharply lower carbon emissions, while keeping the lights on, energy bills affordable and all the time protecting both people and the natural world from harm. | Ministers must arrive at the destination of a clean energy system fit for the 21st century and sharply lower carbon emissions, while keeping the lights on, energy bills affordable and all the time protecting both people and the natural world from harm. |
| Thursday's announcements provide a thicket of signposts and flares about the direction of travel, but the brightest burning of them all – an apparent bonanza of shale gas under our feet – is far from the most important. Better indicators of progress are the broadly positive moves made on nuclear power, flood defences, renewable energy and the green investment bank, as is disappointing news on the green deal energy efficiency scheme. | Thursday's announcements provide a thicket of signposts and flares about the direction of travel, but the brightest burning of them all – an apparent bonanza of shale gas under our feet – is far from the most important. Better indicators of progress are the broadly positive moves made on nuclear power, flood defences, renewable energy and the green investment bank, as is disappointing news on the green deal energy efficiency scheme. |
| But the hysteria over fracking – "we're in the money" yelled one headline – reveals starkly the way the two sides of the coalition are fighting over the compass and pulling in different directions. George Osborne and the Conservatives dream of a US-style gas revolution, energy secretary Ed Davey and the LibDems understand it is near certain not to happen. | But the hysteria over fracking – "we're in the money" yelled one headline – reveals starkly the way the two sides of the coalition are fighting over the compass and pulling in different directions. George Osborne and the Conservatives dream of a US-style gas revolution, energy secretary Ed Davey and the LibDems understand it is near certain not to happen. |
| Fracking could provide a useful source of secure, domestic and relatively low-carbon fuel and could offset some of the decline in North Sea gas in a decade or so. But it won't come quick enough. As the energy regulator Ofgem warned on Thursday, the UK faces a rising risk of blackouts far sooner - within a few years. | Fracking could provide a useful source of secure, domestic and relatively low-carbon fuel and could offset some of the decline in North Sea gas in a decade or so. But it won't come quick enough. As the energy regulator Ofgem warned on Thursday, the UK faces a rising risk of blackouts far sooner - within a few years. |
| Wind turbines on land and an end to profligate wasting of electricity and gas in our homes are far better placed to get us through the energy crunch. | Wind turbines on land and an end to profligate wasting of electricity and gas in our homes are far better placed to get us through the energy crunch. |
| But consider this. Ministers have pledged to make planning harder for onshore windfarms, but easier for fracking rigs. They suggest windfarm developers give £5,000 to local communities per megawatt, but require that fracking firms give £100,000 to locals for a single exploratory well, plus 1% of revenues from each production site. | |
| Most revealing of all is that, while fracking will only be acceptable if it can be done safely and without damaging water supplies or exacerbating climate change by belching out methane, ministers have completely ignored the key recommendation of the Royal Society's authoritative report on shale gas, which insisted regulatory "guidelines specific to shale gas extraction" must be drawn up. | Most revealing of all is that, while fracking will only be acceptable if it can be done safely and without damaging water supplies or exacerbating climate change by belching out methane, ministers have completely ignored the key recommendation of the Royal Society's authoritative report on shale gas, which insisted regulatory "guidelines specific to shale gas extraction" must be drawn up. |
| Environmental protection must not make fracking too expensive is the message government is sending out. | Environmental protection must not make fracking too expensive is the message government is sending out. |
| The coalition stands at a fork in the road, arguing furiously. Osborne's 20th-century view of the environment as something to risk in pursuit of economic growth – £40bn on roads, for example – leads down a dark, treeless path of fossil-fuel dependency. The Lib Dem's foiled desire to end uncertainty over green investment – by committing to a carbon-free electricity system by 2030 – leads to a brighter path of sustainability. | The coalition stands at a fork in the road, arguing furiously. Osborne's 20th-century view of the environment as something to risk in pursuit of economic growth – £40bn on roads, for example – leads down a dark, treeless path of fossil-fuel dependency. The Lib Dem's foiled desire to end uncertainty over green investment – by committing to a carbon-free electricity system by 2030 – leads to a brighter path of sustainability. |
| Thursday's revelations point in different directions. Full-speed ahead for the shale gas juggernaut and don't mind the pedestrians is heading down the dark road, as is Osborne's infliction of the joint-worst cuts in Whitehall to the environment department. The awful start made by the green deal scheme, becoming more middle-class boiler subsidy than national home retrofit, is also travelling in the wrong direction, though it could yet turn around. It needs to: saving energy is even more important than finding clean new ways to generate it. | Thursday's revelations point in different directions. Full-speed ahead for the shale gas juggernaut and don't mind the pedestrians is heading down the dark road, as is Osborne's infliction of the joint-worst cuts in Whitehall to the environment department. The awful start made by the green deal scheme, becoming more middle-class boiler subsidy than national home retrofit, is also travelling in the wrong direction, though it could yet turn around. It needs to: saving energy is even more important than finding clean new ways to generate it. |
| But other measures are pushing the coalition down the brighter path. The huge U-turn on cuts to flood defence spending means millions of people will be safer from the horrors of the deluges being intensified by global warming. Like or loathe nuclear power, the pledge by the government to guarantee loans to build the proposed new plant in Somerset means a big chunk of low-carbon energy is now more likely. High costs will be the catch there, in my estimation. | But other measures are pushing the coalition down the brighter path. The huge U-turn on cuts to flood defence spending means millions of people will be safer from the horrors of the deluges being intensified by global warming. Like or loathe nuclear power, the pledge by the government to guarantee loans to build the proposed new plant in Somerset means a big chunk of low-carbon energy is now more likely. High costs will be the catch there, in my estimation. |
| Renewable energy received more certainty, which could reduce some of the crippling uncertainty that has kept investors hands in their pockets at a time when the UK's energy system is desperate for new generation. The arcane but vital capacity mechanism – ensuring enough flexible gas-powered electricity is available to iron out the peaks and troughs in carbon-free wind and solar – is now a step further forward. And the green investment bank will be allowed to borrow – a little – for the first time. | Renewable energy received more certainty, which could reduce some of the crippling uncertainty that has kept investors hands in their pockets at a time when the UK's energy system is desperate for new generation. The arcane but vital capacity mechanism – ensuring enough flexible gas-powered electricity is available to iron out the peaks and troughs in carbon-free wind and solar – is now a step further forward. And the green investment bank will be allowed to borrow – a little – for the first time. |
| On balance, the coalition now looks more likely to take the steeper but ultimately safer high road to sustainability. But this expedition into the future is a marathon not a sprint, and ministers' failure to look much beyond 2020 is still tripping them up. | On balance, the coalition now looks more likely to take the steeper but ultimately safer high road to sustainability. But this expedition into the future is a marathon not a sprint, and ministers' failure to look much beyond 2020 is still tripping them up. |
| In the past two years, largely thanks to Osborne, this has looked like the greenest government never. After today, the journey is at least back on track and we should be grateful for that. When it comes to safeguarding the environment we all share, we really are all in it together. | In the past two years, largely thanks to Osborne, this has looked like the greenest government never. After today, the journey is at least back on track and we should be grateful for that. When it comes to safeguarding the environment we all share, we really are all in it together. |
| Note: I have clarified that wind farm developers are recommended to give £5,000 per megawatt installed, not in total. Seven 3MW turbined would mean £100,000 if firms comply. |