New campaign urges support for renewables to tackle energy crisis

A new national campaign, Warm This Winter, is urging MPs and Peers returning to parliament to support genuine solutions to permanently reduce energy bills.

The campaign coalition is supported by anti-poverty and environmental organisations, such as Save the Children and WWF, and is pushing for the UK to lessen its reliance on gas through home insulation schemes and affordable renewables.

Warm This Winter is also calling for emergency financial support, particularly aimed at low-income households, to prevent millions from falling into fuel poverty.

A petition in support of the campaign has been signed by 120,000 people, as the coalition is working with Peers to table a series of amendments to the government’s Energy Bill that would force the Prime Minister to reduce the UK’s dependency on gas.

Liz Truss has pledged to increase oil and gas exploration in the North Sea and support fracking with consent from communities, but experts have warned this would do nothing to lower energy bills.

Supporter of the campaign Simon Francis, from the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: ‘This summer MPs will have seen first hand the anxiety and desperation their constituents are experiencing and will be wanting to do everything they can to help. That means more emergency money for people this winter, funding to help everyone cut their bills with better insulation, and a rapid move away from expensive gas and onto cheaper, renewable energy.

‘We urge MPs to back these calls for genuine solutions to help people this winter and in future, and to ignore the special pleading of the oil and gas industry. The seriousness of this crisis demands that they back measures that will tangibly make a difference to people’s lives.’

Warm This Winter is demanding the government launch a properly-funded energy efficiency programme, triple the amount of UK renewable energy by 2030, and stop opening new oil and gas fields.

Members of the campaign wrote to Conservative leadership candidates in July encouraging them to devise solutions which can lower energy costs in the future too.

Photo by Jason Blackeye