Green Policy Supported By Fuel Poverty Expert

Euan McPhee, Green Party’s candidate for Camborne and Redruth, has welcomed the message delivered at a recent lecture on fuel poverty at the Tremough Campus. The lecture was given by Dr Brenda Boardman of Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute and a former government energy policy expert. She stated that 5 million UK homes are currently in fuel poverty, and are unable to afford to heat their homes effectively. This is leading to as many as 45,000 excess winter deaths per year.

“The Government has set itself the target of removing these 5 million households from fuel poverty by 2016,” says Euan. “So how will this be achieved? The Winter Fuel Supplement has been one way, but such a policy misses many of the really needy people. Also, just handing out more money for people to burn more fuel does not tackle the underlying problem of poor quality housing with low standards of energy performance.”

Euan continued: “According to Dr Boardman, the best policy is for direct capital investment to create energy efficient homes. This would reduce the fuel bills of householders and reduce the emissions of carbon, thus addressing the problem of climate change at the same time. This policy is very much in line with the Green Party’s – it’s good for people and good for the planet! What is more, the insulation and refurbishment work required would provide a welcome boost to employment and to local businesses.”