APRES MOI LE DELUGE

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                    Louis XV’s mordant phrase aptly captures the legacy of the Coalition government’s electricity policy. The new government, whatever its composition, will inherit a policy that achieved a rare feat. It united investors, generators, customers, commentators and environmentalists on energy policy. […]

WHOM THE GODS DESTROY

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      Despite frequent headlines suggesting otherwise, EDF has not yet agreed to buy two nuclear reactors from its sister French state-owned company Areva. The British Government has yet to sign a contract to purchase the electricity the reactors will produce. Without that contract EDF will not make the […]

Solar is set to transform the global energy market – Podcast – Today Program BBC Radio 07/04/2015

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                We have had a very inconsistent approach to renewables and deploying renewables in Britain. We are really starting to miss out and get left behind because of that inconsistency by government. It’s completely incoherent to complain about subsidies as the government did […]

ON TURNING GOOD NEWS INTO BAD

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                          When it comes to energy policy the Financial Times seems to be suffering the editorial equivalent of a nervous breakdown. Looking back through some of its recent stories I was struck by a headline from a Pilita […]

THE POWER OF DREAMS

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    This piece first appeared in The Guardian on Thursday 10th July                 It has always been difficult to see what was attractive about the proposed deal with EDF to build a nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point in Somerset. To bring this […]

It can’t be easy being George Monbiot

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  By Jonathon Porritt  5th December 2013   This article first appeared in Jonathon Porritt’s blog and in The Ecologist The Letter referred to in this article is the one that Jonathon Porritt, Tony Juniper, Charles Secrett and I wrote to David Cameron, highlighting the key economic and political issues with pursuing a pro-nuclear […]

Third or fourth time lucky

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  This article first appeared in Business Green October 2013     There is only one decision that really matters about future nuclear reactor building in Britain and that has not yet been taken. From the amount of media hoopla surrounding the announcement on Hinkley C you could be forgiven […]

BEHIND THE NUCLEAR SMOKE AND MIRRORS

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              There is an important question to be asked of Mr Davey. If there is no public subsidy for Hinkley C why are you having to make an application to the Brussels for state aids clearance? The most important decision in this issue is […]

Energy lobby insiders will lead cold war against Labour

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  By Damian Carrington and Terry Macalister – The Observer Sunday 6 October 2013                 Tom Burke, a former head of Friends of the Earth who worked as special adviser to several Conservative ministers, said: “The secondments are pernicious, but the real power […]

The Independent View: No real choice on nuclear

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  This article was written for the Liberal Democrat Voice and first appeared on their website.                       By Tom Burke | Mon 9th September 2013 – 8:45 am   Atoms are not the only fission products of nuclear power. This is […]