Energy secretary Amber Rudd has called for a new approach to tackling global warming after she stated that the climate change debate was ‘dictated by left-wing anti-capitalists.’
Rudd says she can understand why people see tackling global warming as “cover for anti-growth, anti-capitalist, proto-socialism.”
“It cannot be left to one part of the political spectrum to dictate the solution and some of the loudest voices have approached the issue from a left-wing perspective,” she said.
Rudd has made it clear that she feels subsidies are not the route to tackling global warming – she recently scrapped subsidies for the development of new wind and solar farms to much controversy.
She claims that the left-wingers have associated climate change with economic growth but that they don’t necessarily need to go hand in hand explaining the dangers of lower growth equalling a lower quality of life.
She advised that taking action against global warming is therefore the “ultimate insurance policy” to ensure economic security. But warned:
“The bottom line is this – if we are acting on climate change to preserve our economic prosperity, we have to make sure that climate change action is pro-growth and pro-business.”
Rudd still maintains that the UK will hit carbon reduction targets set out by the EU and will endeavour to promote cost-efficient renewable technologies.
Watch this space.