Greg Mulholland
Main Page: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Chris Huhne
The hon. Gentleman knows very well that my line on new nuclear has always been based on scepticism about the economics. As he knows, no nuclear power station has been built on commercial terms anywhere in the world since Three Mile Island. That may be about to change because of the framework of prospective oil and gas prices and carbon prices. It is up to investors to take those decisions.
Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD)
13. What his Department’s priorities are for the implementation of the EU’s carbon emissions reduction target of 30% by 2020.
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Gregory Barker)
The Government believe that despite the current challenging outlook for a binding global agreement on carbon emissions, the EU should be taking a more ambitious leadership role. We will be urging our European partners to agree an early EU move to the 30% reduction target. That would put Europe firmly on a path to a low-carbon economy, stimulating innovation and efficiency and meeting the twin challenges of climate change and energy security. The details of how the EU would implement a higher target are yet to be agreed.
Greg Mulholland
I thank the Minister for that answer and for the leadership that the Government are giving on this issue. Can he give an indication of the realistic possibility of the EU’s actually hitting that target; and are other countries as committed to it as we are in this country?
The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Charles Hendry)
I hope the hon. Lady will have seen the reaction from the major energy companies this week to the statement made by the Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark). It showed that there is absolute clarity. There will not be a delay and there will be a strict time scale for making decisions in these matters. However, we are determined to introduce greater democratic accountability and to ensure that the risk therefore of judicial review can be reduced.
Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD)
T5. The loft insulation programme is most welcome from the point of view of saving money for households and for the environmental benefit. However, can the Secretary of State assure the House that there will be a particular focus on the vulnerable and those most susceptible to fuel poverty?