Cutting green power 'is high risk'

Article date : 20/07/2010

Choosing to reduce its funding of green power could see the government sending out the wrong message to investors, one sector commentator has warned.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change announced last week that it was set to cut £34 million from its green technology budget.

This is despite stating earlier in the week that it wished to reduce the UK's carbon emissions by 30 per cent of pre-1990 levels.

Commenting on the announcement, Simon Bullock, senior campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said this was a risky strategy.

He added that it could also damage the country's green economy.

"If these cuts go ahead, major improvements to other policies are essential to make up the shortfall," Mr Bullock explained.

While he claimed that government was right in its decision to urge the EU to adopt tougher emissions targets and to call for Britons to take action in their own homes - such as by making their central heating systems more efficient - reducing this funding is a "false saving", Mr Bullock concluded.

Written by Jasper Cullen

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