Brits ministerie van Energie en Klimaatverandering opgeheven

15 juli 2016 – Het Britse ‘Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC)’ is niet meer. De nieuwe premier Theresa May heeft het geschrapt en energie nu ondergebracht in het nieuwe ‘Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’. Reacties: ‘Plain stupid’.

Greg Clark is de nieuwe minister geworden. (Hij was tot gisteren minister voor Minderheden.)
De Independent is vernietigend over de verandering: “Climate change department killed off by Theresa May in ‘plain stupid’ and ‘deeply worrying’ move.”

Uit een bericht van Express
‘(…) Environmentalists immediately reacted to the “shocking” news, voicing fears that the reshaping of departments showed the Government was downgrading climate change as a priority. In its eight years DECC has seen four secretaries of state, implemented world-leading legislation to tackle climate change, an increased deployment of renewables, attempts to get a fracking industry off the ground and a promise to phase out coal. (…)’

Andrea Leadsom
Uit het bericht van de Independent
‘(…) The news came after the appointment of Andrea Leadsom – who revealed her first question to officials when she became Energy Minister last year was “Is climate change real? – was appointed as the new Environment Secretary.
And, after former Energy and Climate Change Secretary Amber Rudd announced in November that Britain was going to “close coal” by 2025, Ms Leadsom later asked the coal industry to help define what this actually meant. (…)’

Greg Clark
Greg Clark over zijn benoeming (bericht CarbonBrief)
‘(…) “I am thrilled to have been appointed to lead this new department charged with delivering a comprehensive industrial strategy, leading government’s relationship with business, furthering our world-class science base, delivering affordable, clean energy and tackling climate change.” (…)’

Een paar jaar geleden zei Clark over de reductie van CO2-uitstoot:
‘(…) “I believe [the] biggest threat to our prosperity, social fairness and economy will be staying on our current increasingly volatile, expensive and inefficient high carbon path…The British economy has paid a high price over the past year for its over reliance on high risk, unsustainable investments. The transition to a low carbon economy gives us the opportunity to rebuild our economy on the firmer ground of hard infrastructure and greater efficiency, which will result in a more resilient, and more equitable, form of national prosperity in the future…In reducing our climate risk and the exposure associated with dependence on fossil fuels, we will…be transforming our debt culture into a savings culture. The long term, low-risk opportunities offered by energy efficiency and other low carbon investments will drive our economy, relieve fuel poverty and act as one of the rocks on which we rebuild our national capacity for genuine wealth creation.” (…)’

Amber Rudd
Amber Rudd, die minister was op het Energie en Klimaatministerie is nu minister van Binnenlandse Zaken.

Bronnen
Express, 14 juli 2016: Department of Energy and Climate Change scrapped as Greg Clark heads up new role
Independent, 14 juli 2016: Climate change department killed off by Theresa May in ‘plain stupid’ and ‘deeply worrying’ move
Carbon Brief, 14 juli 2016: Reshuffle: DECC folded into new department headed by Greg Clark