Thursday night, in an appearance on Question Time, Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party and MP for Brighton Pavilion, outlined the case for no new nuclear plants.
She talked about how we can meet our carbon targets and create hundreds of thousands of jobs, through a massive investment programme in both energy efficiency and renewable energy.
You can read more about our views on nuclear, in our 2009 report, Nuclear Power No Point.
The Green Party has pioneered two ways of putting this into place at the local level in England and Wales.
- On Kirklees council, the Warm Front project led to 9000 homes filled with cavity wall insulation, and 18 000 homes with loft insulation, over the last two years. The Kirklees scheme reduced heating bills for residents by an average of £150 a year per home and made a huge dent in fuel poverty. The scheme also put unemployed builders back into work - it has created an estimated 200 jobs locally - and cuts carbon emissions. The long term benefits mean Kirklees Council is saving people £4.5 million a year.
- Following the successful Green Party scheme to set up a Norfolk Energy Services Company, Deputy Green Party Leader Councillor Adrian Ramsay said. "This scheme is the kind of creative thinking that Greens bring to local councils. It will reduce energy bills, create local jobs and help tackle climate change."
The "ESCO" will generate a guaranteed new income stream for the council by installing solar panels on council property such as schools, libraries, and landfill sites. Energy bills will be reduced and surplus energy sold to the national grid, with the savings and profit offsetting some of the strain put on local services by cuts.
Ramsay also said: "I'm delighted that Norfolk County Council is now taking this proposal seriously and that Green Councillors around the country are pursuing the idea for their local authorities."
Join the Greens to say No to Nuclear and Yes to Renewable Energy.