NORTH EAST COMPANIES WILL FAIL IF RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGETS ARE IGNORED - HALL

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 26th Sep 2008

Fiona Hall, MEP for the North East has slammed the government for trying to put in place loopholes that would see the UK fail to reach its renewable energy target of 15%, part of the overall EU target of 20% renewables by 2020.

A leaked document has today confirmed that the Government is lobbying for changes to the targets to exclude the aviation industry. But Fiona, who sits on the Industry, Research and Energy committee in the European Parliament says the Government is being cavalier in trying to wriggle out of climate change targets.

Fiona said, "Whether or not suitable biofuels for aircraft will be available before 2020 is irrelevant. This is just the latest smokescreen thrown out by the Government in its attempts to weaken efforts to tackle climate change. The Government should simply knuckle down to meeting its renewable commitments instead of trying to evade them - there is ample scope for renewable energy in the rest of the transport sector, not to mention in electricity and heating.

Fiona gave two further examples of how the Government has repeatedly tried to water down the EU Renewables Directive: "The Government wants to abandon interim targets which act as stepping stones towards the 2020 target. But without a planned expansion the development of renewable energy will never get off the ground.

"Labour is letting down the North East, which is the region set to gain most from a steady growth in the renewable energy sector and green collar jobs.

"The Government is also trying to hold back renewable expansion by asking to count big projects that are still under construction in 2020 towards the 2020 renewable targets. They are pretending this loophole is necessary to give time for the Severn Barrage to be built - despite the fact the National Grid has assured me that the UK can achieve its 15% by 2020 target without the Severn Barrage."

Fiona confirmed that MEPs had voted strongly against loophole clauses. "I will continue to fight all the Government's underhand attempts to evade their commitments on renewable energy. Labour is not only putting at risk global efforts to keep climate change under control but also seriously undermining the huge economic potential of renewables for the North East."