28/10/2014
Very much obscured by the row over the EU budget is the deal Mr Cameron made over the 2030 targets on climate change, on which he elaborated in parliament
yesterday.
"One problem we have faced in the past [with the EU] ", said Cameron, "is that instead of just setting a binding target on carbon emissions, the EU has set binding national targets on things like renewables and energy efficiency".
"These diktats on how each country should reach its commitments can pile up costs on our industries, consumers and families who do not want to pay more on their energy bills than they have to", he added, "and they create an unnecessary trade-off between cutting carbon emissions and promoting economic growth".
Thus said Mr Cameron, "At this Council, we have chosen a different path. We have reached a landmark commitment to deliver at least 40 percent reductions in greenhouse gases by 2030, but we have rejected any new binding national targets for renewables or energy efficiency, giving us full flexibility over how we reduce our carbon allowing us to do so at the lowest possible cost for businesses and consumers".
"This", he said, "is another example of where British leadership has helped the EU to step up and meet its international obligations, while at the same time protecting our national interest by keeping energy bills down for businesses and Britain's hard-working families".
I wonder, though, how many people realise how dishonest this statement is. The prime minister glibly talks about a 40 percent target for CO2 emission reductions by 2030, and talks of the "flexibility", which allows us to meet this target allowing us to do so at the lowest possible cost for businesses and consumers "at the lowest possible cost for businesses and consumers".
But what he doesn't say is that the UK has already committed via the Climate Change Act to the 80 percent reduction target by 2050, which is already driving our energy policy. Thus, the 2030 target for Britain is an irrelevance when we have already adopted one which is far more severe. And the "flexibility" is of very little importance, when we are already saddled with this impossible target.
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