Energy Bill

Not only despicable but wrong, as modern wind turbines, especially the larger ones that avoid providing perches for birds, have turned out to be perfectly safe for most bird life. Such an ill-informed attack on wind power is exactly the kind of thing that we should reject. The Conservatives' support for nuclear power worries me just as much. That technology costs us billions even today, and we do not how, when or where to dispose of nuclear waste, which will leave a toxic legacy for future generations for as long as 1,000 years. I was struck by the speech by the hon. Member for Copeland (Mr. Reed), which was well informed and technically accurate. He is a gentleman who knows the nuclear industry very well, so it is instructive that he made a plea to open the door to public subsidy for the nuclear industry. I hope that the Government will take the opportunity tonight very firmly to reject that out of hand. We agree with some of the criticism of this limited Bill. The encouragement of social tariffs is welcome, but it is very little and, I would say, much too late. There are weaknesses in the Bill, and there is still not a clear ban on differentiated fuel tariffs according to the method of payment, which have been widely condemned. However, there is not an absolutely clear commitment in the Bill to remove that inconsistency. We have heard a great deal about the lack of attention to rural fuel poverty in particular. The steps towards more carbon capture and storage are welcome, but there is a loophole in the Bill, which I have mentioned to the Secretary of State on several occasions. There is no guarantee that by the 2020s, coal-fired powers stations will not emit large amounts of carbon, with only a proportion of their output subject to CCS. Ministers are nodding their heads, but I cannot do better than quote the progress report to Parliament by the Committee on Climate Change, issued in October. It is concerned that we have not given a strong enough signal that""for any plant not fitted with CCS there will be little or no role further into the 2020s"." The report goes on to say:""The Government should make it absolutely clear now that whether or not CCS can be deemed economically viable any conventional coal plant still operating unabated beyond the early 2020s would only generate for a very limited number of hours."" We still have not heard that commitment from Government. We have been debating the Bill in an enjoyably cool environment. When Madam Deputy Speaker was in the Chair earlier, she considered turning the heating up so that we were all warmed up during the debate. I know that the Minister was feeling particularly chilly, but it is entirely appropriate that on the first day of the Copenhagen summit we have resisted that temptation, and for once seem to have saved some energy in this place and reduced the amount of hot air in the Chamber—which many of our constituents might think could be done on many other occasions. As it is the first day of the Copenhagen summit, it is right that I should take a moment to express our unity across the House. We are critical of Government policy from time to time. We are critical of many aspects of the Bill, but when the Secretary of State goes to Copenhagen, if he goes to press for a tough deal on climate change and for a clear timetable for binding commitments—early in 2010, I hope—he goes with our best wishes and our support. It is quite possible that the future of human civilisation as we know it may rest on decisions taken in Copenhagen over the next couple of weeks. That obliges us to put aside national and party political divisions for the common good. To that end, we wish him well.