This week, Energy and Climate Change Minister Ed Miliband spoke in Oxford to set out his plans for a low-carbon Britain. Organised by Friends of the Earth Oxford, whose aim was to challenge Miliband on government policy towards climate change ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, the evening also featured a soon-to-be-unemployed wind turbine manufacturer and four high-profile climate change scientists and activists.
The event gathered a surprising amount of interest. The event had to move from the small to the biggest room in the Town Hall, where hundreds of people were seated or stood around the edges.
Miliband looked nervous when he waited for things to begin. This is probably because of the extra act scheduled: one of 500 employees at Britain’s only wind turbine manufacturing plant which was about to be closed. The plant announced its closure in April and many have since asked why the government has refused to save it.
‘It’s not about the money’, answered Miliband. Vestas, the Danish company that owns the plant stated that it shut because there is no demand for its turbines. 60% of planning applications for onshore wind farms in Britain are turned down because of local opposition, so the company is stepping up production in the US and China instead.
Mliband argued that as the government could not just nationalise the plant, and that no other company had come forward to buy it from Vestas, its closure was unavoidable. The claim that nationalisation was impossible was met with opposition by the audience; one man cited the wave of recent government takeovers of companies hit by the credit crisis, but Miliband stuck to his position.
Many questioned followed, to the enthusiasm of the audience. ‘Why doesn’t the government do more to educate people about the dangers of catastrophic climate change?’ got the biggest cheer, and ‘Why is it cheaper to fly to Rome than to take the train?’ got another. Answering the first question, Miliband pointed out that constant scare warnings were counterproductive. You have to offer people something positive to get them to change.
Replying to the second question, Miliband stated, ‘domestic flights have got to become more expensive…We have argued strongly for aviation to be included in the European Emissions Trading Scheme. Personally I think aviation is undertaxed.’ Miliband went on to say, ‘we have an 80% reduction target. If we cut aviation emissions by that by 2050, we’d go back to 1974 levels of flying. But the world is getting closer together, not further apart.’ He concluded by saying that flying is so important, especially for the young, that cuts would have to be made in other areas.
Miliband used the phrase ‘let me be candid with you’ about seven times during the evening, but overall he was a fairly good speaker. He addressed all questions fired at him thoroughly and exhorted the audience to get involved in activism in the lead-up to Copenhagen. He added that the silent majority in favour of wind power must do more to stop planning applications being rejected by a small vocal minority.
Green activists were however unsatisfied with the course of the event. They wanted the evening to show Miliband clearly that a large section of the public wanted more ambitious green policies. The set-up of the event was good for people who wanted a chance to hear Miliband’s policies on a number of different issues, but frustrating for those who knew what the policies were, disagreed with them, and wanted to see Miliband grilled.
Ian Leggett, Director of People and Planet, the largest student network in Britain campaigning to end world poverty and protect the environment, concluded the evening by saying that Copenhagen would probably be the most important climate talks ever to take place. Britain is now one of the leading nations in climate change policy, so it will indeed be interesting to see what Miliband has to say then.
