Tag Archives: energy bill

16 Liberal Democrats rebel and vote for 2030 decarbonisation target

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 4th June 2013 - 9:15 pm

An amendment to the Energy Bill which would have set a target for carbon emissions target for the power industry was defeated by just 23 votes tonight. 16 Liberal Democrat MPs backed the amendment while 30 voted against it.

10 of the 16 are already on the Friends of the Earth website (plus Mike Hancock, who temporarily withdrew from the Whip last night).

They are:

Andrew George

Greg Mulholland

Julian Huppert

John Hemming

John Leech

Martin Horwood

Roger Williams

Andrew Stunnell

Mark Williams

Adrian Sanders

In addition, Tim Farron and Gordon Birtwistle supported it and Mike Thornton in his first act of …

Stephen Gilbert writes … Liberal Democrats should be proud of the Energy Bill

By Stephen Gilbert MP | Mon 3rd June 2013 - 7:00 pm

The Energy Bill will, today and tomorrow, be going through its Report Stage and Third Reading in the Commons. Ed Davey set out clearly on Lib Dem Voice why this is so important for decarbonising our power sector and keeping on the lights at an affordable price for consumers. As a party we should be pleased that there is general cross-party support for the bill as it is vital that we maintain as far as we are able cross party consensus to provide the certainty for investors for our transition …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged ed davey | 6 Comments

Ed Davey MP writes…Green jobs, cleaner energy, keeping the lights on and bills down

By Ed Davey | Sun 2nd June 2013 - 10:59 am

The Energy Bill returns to the House of Commons tomorrow. It’s a crucial Bill that will help deliver all of the above, but clearly one issue – the 2030 decarbonisation target for the power sector – has been the focus of much attention over the last few months. Let’s be clear, such a target wasn’t mentioned in any party’s manifesto or the Coalition Agreement, or in the draft Bill when I became Secretary of State. But because we won the argument in Government, and the Bill now provides for a target, Britain will be the first country in the world …

Posted in News | Also tagged climate change, decarbonisation targets, energy, environment and house of commons | 23 Comments

Andrew George MP writes…Liberal Democrats must defend green promise

By Andrew George | Fri 31st May 2013 - 1:46 pm

It’s crunch time for parties across the political spectrum: will parliamentarians do the right thing for our climate and the UK economy or will they let the sceptics drive investors overseas?

The Energy Bill returns to the Commons next week, just as the Conservatives are retreating to their traditional political stomping grounds in the face of competition from the right. Writing in Lib Dem Voice last month, Nick Clegg noted that: “Compassionate conservatism has been sidelined…the blue team used to claim to have gone green, yet have now publicly denounced the importance of environmental protections”. It’s up to the Liberal Democrats to …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged chris huhne, climate change, decarbonisation, ed davey, environment and nick clegg | 3 Comments

Roger Williams MP writes…Why I’m backing Tim Yeo’s Energy Bill amendments – and urging my colleagues to join me

By Roger Williams MP | Thu 21st March 2013 - 5:12 pm

It’s hard to believe, but more than a year has passed since Ed Davey stepped into Chris Huhne’s shoes at the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Ed has spent much of that time fighting George Osborne and the Treasury to ensure that the Energy Bill – a once-in-a-generation opportunity to direct £110bn of investment towards a clean energy future – achieves its stated aims: cut carbon, secure our electricity supply, and rein in household fuel bills.

These are the aims of Liberal Democrats everywhere, and credit must be given to Ed for the vigour with he has pursued

…

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged ed davey | 11 Comments

Opinion: Rational energy policy must be central to 2015 manifesto

By Alex Meredith | Thu 21st February 2013 - 2:25 pm

The alarm raised by the Chief Executive of Ofgem earlier this week over a looming energy ‘near crisis’ will not have come as a shock to most people. This is not the first time we have heard how our islands will struggle to support increasing energy demands in a carbon constrained world.

However, the major insight that Ofgem has provided relates to timing. Ofgem’s analysis points very clearly to 2015 as being the critical year when our reliance on imported gas could lead to a major spike in bills.

Lest we forget, 2015 is also the year of the next general election. …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged green deal | 25 Comments

The Independent View: Cross-party amendment to decarbonise power by 2030 needed to stop Osborne

By Will Straw | Thu 29th November 2012 - 6:50 pm

The Independent reports this morning that pro-green Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs are considering a rebel amendment to the Energy Bill to create a target to decarbonise the power sector by 2030. The policy is critical to reducing carbon emissions and energy bills in the long run and creating jobs and growth.

Last week, Ed Davey revealed the details of the Government’s much anticipated Energy Bill which will be introduced to Parliament today. In exchange for an extremely positive and welcome outcome for the renewable sector up to 2020, Davey lost his battle to include a 2030 decarbonisation target …

Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Also tagged ed davey | 15 Comments

Ed Davey writes…The Energy Bill: A vital step for a greener, more secure and affordable energy policy

By Ed Davey | Thu 29th November 2012 - 1:22 pm

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged ed davey | 6 Comments

Fiona Hall MEP writes: Energy Bill must have clear decarbonisation targets

By Fiona Hall MEP | Wed 24th October 2012 - 11:28 am

The long-awaited Energy Bill will be published at the beginning of November and will give Ed Davey a unique opportunity to prove that Lib Dems are the greenest of the main political parties. But in the innermost circles of the Coalition Government a battle royal is currently being played out over crucial details of the text.

This bill will establish the Electricity Market Reform (EMR) that will shape UK energy policy for decades to come. It therefore offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to set the parameters for tackling climate change, the greatest challenge of the twenty-first

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged decarbonisation targets, ed davey and electricity market regulation | 11 Comments

LibLink: Ed Davey – Our £1,000 giveaways will help with rising bills

By NewsHound | Sun 21st October 2012 - 1:15 pm

On the off-chance that Voice readers missed The Sun’s interview with Lib Dem energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey on Friday, here’s an excerpt:

In a grim admission to millions of hard-pressed Brits, Energy Secretary Ed Davey said ministers cannot reverse rising global fuel prices. But he insisted that they can help to ease the blow for millions of households hit by the global trend. In a bid to placate furious consumers, he today

Posted in LibLink | Also tagged ed davey and fuel poverty | 5 Comments

Draft Energy Bill: keeping the lights on for now, and for decades to come

By Ed Davey | Tue 22nd May 2012 - 9:31 am

Over the next decade, around a fifth of existing power plants are due to close, against a background of projected increased energy demand and increasing energy prices. We need new investment simply to keep the lights on and avoid blackouts becoming a feature of daily life. But we also need investment in electricity generation for our climate change goals. We must decarbonise Britain’s electricity generation, to meet our Carbon Budgets as we transition to a low carbon economy.

We need an estimated £110 billion investment in electricity generation and transmission this decade alone. So we need electricity market reforms to incentivise …

Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged climate change and ed davey | 46 Comments

Chris White writes: I have just received an email from Simon Hughes

By Chris White | Thu 26th May 2011 - 4:18 pm

I have just received an email from Simon Hughes. It said:

It’s been a great month for Liberal Democrats who are setting the pace on the green agenda!

It doesn’t quite say it’s been a great month for ‘the’ Liberal Democrats but most people will read it that way and think vaguely of my one and only Kipling joke: