Huhne: Govt offers bold vision on energy
Energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne delivers his first annual energy statement to parliament:
“We want to start a grown-up debate about what the low carbon future will look like and the best way of achieving it.
“These are possible pathways. We are not claiming to be able to see the future with certainty. But we cannot continue on the current pathway: high-carbon, highly dependent on imports, highly volatile prices.
“Like the other industrial revolutions, the low carbon revolution will be driven by entrepreneurs, the private sector, local communities, individuals and businesses, scientists and engineers, not government.
“However, industry needs stable policy and functioning markets. The role of government is to provide the policy framework and act as a catalyst for private sector investment. As the 2050 pathways work demonstrates, we need to apply these principles to the challenge of changing fundamentally the way we both produce and consume energy.
“The cheapest way of closing the gap between energy demand and supply is to cut energy use.”
