...but why is climate tsar claiming that lifting ban won’t help energy prices?
THE Government’s climate change tsar was told he needs to ‘live in the real world’ after he warned Liz Truss against lifting the fracking moratorium despite the energy crisis.
Lord Deben said approving fracking would have no impact on energy prices – and urged her to focus on renewables instead.
The Prime Minister is set to end the ban on the gas extraction method today, after pledging to take action during the leadership campaign.
But Lord Deben, who chairs the Committee on Climate Change, warned Miss Truss yesterday that the best way to solve the energy crisis was to double down on renewable sources rather than expanding domestic production.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘There is no sliver of a cigarette paper between the fact that if you want to deal with climate change and
‘We are facing a supply emergency’
you want to deal with the cost of living crisis and oil and gas prices you have to do the same things – renewable energy and energy efficiency – they are the answers.
‘If you want energy bills down, you produce your energy in the cheapest possible way. That happens to be by renewables.’
But last night Craig Mackinlay, part of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group of Tory MPs, who question the cost of meeting the Government’s climate targets, said: ‘Lord Deben and his Climate Change Committee need to come out of their ivory towers and live in the real world. We are facing an
energy cost and supply emergency. It is time we unleashed the full potential of all sources of domestically derived power. Fracking could play a huge role in this. The best time for a UK energy policy would have been 10 years ago. The second best time is now.’
On Tuesday, Lord Deben and Sir John Armitt, who chairs the National Infrastructure Commission, urged Miss Truss to retain the UK’s commitment to deliver a green, decarbonised power system by 2035.
Both figures suggested the size of the nation’s gas reserves – whether offshore or from shale – ‘are too small to impact meaningfully the prices faced by UK consumers’.
During the Tory leadership campaign, Miss Truss suggested fracking could bolster the UK’s energy security and wean the country off Russian fuels.
She said: ‘It’s also very important we use the resources in the North Sea. I support exploring fracking in parts of the United Kingdom. We will end the effective ban on extracting our huge reserves of shale gas by fracking but be led by science, setting out a plan to ensure communities benefit.’
Today Miss Truss will set out her energy support strategy, with help on bills and the expansion of domestic supply expected to be announced.