Saving the planet!

Pride in our nation and what it has achieved should be a stimulus to bold leadership in the future. Nationalistic vanity is not a virtue – but national self-confidence certainly is. Visitors come to marvel at our heritage – just as we go to marvel at the Parthenon in Athens or the glades of Olympia and Delphi. But that is only half the story. They also come to England to see what makes us tick, and why this small island is so influential in the world.

Let me give you an example. For six weeks, the 22 members of Standing Committee B debated the mess we are making of our planet and how we can start to put it right. We were talking energy.

The Energy Bill was conceived in the Cabinet Office review of national energy policy, was born a sickly child in the dumbed-down Energy White Paper, underwent life-threatening surgery in the House of Lords and came to us for convalescence and a make-over.

The UK will set up a Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to clean up the legacy of our early, military-based, nuclear power industry which was light-years behind the modern nuclear industry we see in France, Finland and over 400 nuclear power stations around the world. At last sustainable energy generation will have its day. But by no stretch of the imagination can wind-power alone give us much better than 10% of our needs. Our Government wants us to rely mainly on imported gas for 80% of our needs within 20 years. I think that is unwise. I suspect that within five years we will be planning new nuclear generation to meet our baseload needs. That is certainly the only option if we are to meet our carbon emission targets to combat climate change. We should have the self-confidence to take that decision.

The Bill establishes a UK energy strategy and sets out a wish-list for the development of new energy sources and technologies. This includes wave and tidal flows, solar energy and photovoltaics as well as wind.

Amazingly, we (and I mean MPs from all Parties) had to fight tooth and nail to retain a practical green agenda. We defeated the Government (unheard of in Committee) to encourage combined heat and power schemes which burn waste to generate electricity. We fought for a biofuel policy to encourage farmers to grow crops (wheat, rape and sugar beet) for oil-substitute fuel. We tried to find a sensible balance between indiscriminate development of wind farms on land and sea and sensible siting of turbines, some as tall as Salisbury Cathedral. We achieved only limp acknowledgment that the best, quickest, easiest way of saving the planet is us to use (and waste) less energy.

This month the Bill will come back to the House and be passed, our amendments quashed by this tired and timid Government. Bold? Self-confident? I don’t think so. Will the last Member to leave the Commons for the Summer Recess please turn out the lights?