Friends of the Earth make their point (From Gazette & Herald)
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York & Ryedale Friends of the Earth make their point
11:58am Wednesday 24th October 2012 in News
From left, Glynn Wild, behind the mask of Chancellor George Osborne, Josie Downs and Brian Norris, of York & Ryedale Friends of the Earth, protest in the Market Place, Malton, to promote green energy – they want to pull the Chancellor in that direction
VOLUNTEERS from York & Ryedale Friends of the Earth equipped themselves with green hard hats and banners in Malton on Saturday to help promote their message to the Government that green is working but it needs to act to create more green jobs.
The action was inspired by the famous 1970s Saatchi & Saatchi ‘Labour isn’t working’ advertisement for the Conservative Party – but this time with a green twist.
Members of the environmental charity say that green is working – with recent figures from the Green Alliance showing that there are almost one million jobs already in the low-carbon sector.
They are calling on the Government to block the Chancellor’s ‘dash-for-gas’, which Friends of the Earth have said could see the country hooked on costly and dirty imported gas and undermine investment in renewables. The charity has said the Government should use the Energy Bill to develop more home-grown clean power from the wind, sea and sun, which will boost the economy and create thousands of jobs.
York & Ryedale Friends of the Earth spokesperson, Josie Downs, said: “Green is working – while the UK struggles in a double-dip recession, the low-carbon sector is growing, paving the way to new jobs”
She added that a poll, commissioned by Friends of the Earth in September, revealed that more than two thirds – 72 per cent – of people in the Yorkshire and Humberside region think that the Energy Bill should give high priority to renewable energy.
The Bill is being debated in Parliament from this November and will determine how the UK is powered for the next 20 years.
The environmental charity is calling on the Government to include a target to green UK electricity by 2030 – as recommended by the independent Committee on Climate Change.
