Part of Energy and Climate Change – in the House of Commons at 10:30 am on 9 July 2009.
My hon. Friend makes an important point about rural areas. The truth is—this is why what the G8 leaders agreed yesterday is significant—that we need action throughout the world to protect people in rural areas, because we know that climate change is a global issue. Unless every country acts, we will not be able to avoid the dangerous climate change that would increase the frequency of events such as the one mentioned by my hon. Friend, which happened in my constituency, too. Again, he makes an important point about energy efficiency. One of the things that we have done in the Warm Front programme, for example, is to pilot measures for people off the gas grid, which is an issue in rural areas, to try to help them with new kinds of renewable heating. Also, the community energy saving programme that my hon. Friend the Minister of State mentioned will pilot help for some of the poorest people in rural areas.
Annotations
Graham Stanley
Posted on 10 Jul 2009 12:21 pm (Report this annotation)
Ed. Miliband's response is woefully inadequate and startlingly incomplete and complacent! Measures such as those cited 'for people of the gas grid' will affect only a tiny percentage of our population, and will consequently have an insignificant effect on Climate Change. If we are to take the issue seriously (as it deserves) he needs to adopt a much bolder approach - not just improve the heating systems for a few isolated houses! There are many more areas to be addressed: energy useage and conservation; electricity generation and distribution; transport; waste; building construction... When will these be given some priority?
Thanks, Graham