A plan to tackle the energy crisis was drawn up by a cross-party group of MPs in February and is ready to go, says Labour’s Pat Osborne
August’s column about Blandford Town Council’s ‘motion for the ocean’ already seems a lifetime ago. Within a few short weeks, that glimmer of hope was eclipsed by a tsunami of raw sewage engulfing our beaches, rivers, and the marine habitats around our coastline. The root cause of this? Greedy water company bosses prioritising shareholder profits and their own inflated paycheques over basic public health needs.
It’ll be lost on nobody that we’re in deep ‘sewage’ with our other utilities too.
Since 2010, under the Tories, energy prices have spiralled out of control. In September, bills will almost double with the promise of even more increases to come. People across North Dorset, who already have nothing else to give, are being asked to cough up yet more, so that a handful of shareholders can make even more profit.
Ready-to-go plans
If that isn’t bad enough, the same Tories who passed the laws which allowed the water companies to do so much harm, are papering over their decisions to slash investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy from wind, waves, sun, and tides – implying instead that environmental policies are to blame for energy hikes, and that fracking and more North Sea gas and oil are the answer. What we really need is a plan that includes windfall taxes on the huge profits of energy companies, a plan to insulate homes to keep energy bills down, and to bring energy back into public ownership so we’re all in control of our future.
Fortunately, such a plan exists. The legislation was written in February by a cross-party group of MPs and is ready to go.
We can only live in hope that our new prime minister (whoever that will be) will deliver it.
Until then, I’ll hold my nose as water company bosses pump more sewage into the environment – and cash into their pockets – but I won’t hold my breath.
