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Cost of living crisis & our local environment

Posted by Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston, at 10:15, Fri 4 October 2013:

People round here tell me times are tough. Monthly bills are going up and people face a cost of living crisis as they struggle to make ends meet. The weather has been great this summer. But as the nights draw in and winter approaches people have been telling me they are worried about how cold it will get, and about rising bills. Since David Cameron came to power, energy bills have gone up by almost £300. And the energy companies are still passing on increases when wholesale prices go up, but when they drop, consumers don’t see their bills fall. So I was delighted that Ed Miliband told Labour Party Conference last week that Labour will freeze prices until the start of 2017 if Labour wins the next election. And he said we will break up the big energy companies so that we can all get a fair deal. This will save a typical household £120 and an average business £1,800. But I know people are also asking how we’re to meet our energy needs in the longer term, and how we are to balance the need for secure and affordable energy supplies with protecting the environment. Local people are worried about the state of the planet we’ll hand on to future generations. There’s been huge opposition to the Davyhulme biomass plant, and now local people are telling me they’re very worried about exploratory drilling for possible future “fracking” sites in our area too.

The Tories are gung ho about fracking. George Osborne couldn’t conceal his glee when he found out about this potential new source of energy. He immediately started handing out big tax breaks to companies wanting to start drilling. But there are so many unanswered questions about whether the technique is safe, and what it will do to our environment. Rather than rushing ahead, the government ought to be carrying out a proper investigation of the safety implications and risks.

At first, experiments to drive into rock at exceptionally high pressure to release shale gas (which is what fracking does) happened in remote desert areas, such as in the US. But already companies are expressing interest in drilling right here in the north west, including close to home in Irlam and Davyhulme. Yet how can we be sure the technique is safe to use, especially near hugely built up residential areas? What will it do to our infrastructure? And what will happen to the waste water which includes low levels of radiation?

I met officers from the Environment Agency recently, and they agreed these were reasonable questions to be asking, and they didn’t have the answers. So I also asked United Utilities for guarantees that they wouldn’t be treating waste water from fracking at the sewage works at Davyhulme . They told me that shale gas companies will need a Radioactive Substances permit from the Environment Agency to allow the transport and treatment of fracking flowback wastewater. The permit application must consider the specific treatment site(s) that will be used, and none of UU’s works have been named as a proposed treatment site in any such permit application.

UU say there are no plans for this to change at present. But I’ll be watching future plans very carefully.

Local people are also concerned at the application to renew planning permission for exploratory drilling west of the M60 Barton Bridge in Davyhulme. I just don’t think this should go ahead when there’s so much uncertainty about safety. I want our efforts to go into developing new, safe, sustainable sources of energy, including renewables. Green investment isn’t just good for the environment. It could be a source of new jobs too. And it’s not just about investing in energy supply. We also need to invest in improving energy efficiency and reducing usage, so programmes which improve insulation, introduce higher building and design standards, or encourage use of public transport are also really important.

Sadly, the Tories have been shockingly lax about all of this. In fact, it’s not clear the government believes in the green agenda at all. It’s massively under-funded the green investment bank, it’s opposed wind farms and shown no interest in wave power. It’s allowed train fares to soar. Ministers won’t even sign up for a 2030 carbon target. Locally, Eric Pickles has given the biomass plant at Davyhulme the go-ahead, even though the area already fails to meet air quality standards. We have to be worried what he’d say to an application to start fracking here.

So I have no faith in the Tories’ claim to be “the greenest government ever”. This is a hollow promise and they have been exposed. They’re in thrall to the big energy companies. They won’t stand up for the consumer today, and they won’t stand up for future generations. It’s an absolute disgrace.

Best wishes

Kate

Kate Green Member of Parliament for Stretford and Urmston tel: 0161 749 9120 www.kategreen.org @KateGreenSU