Churches Join Alliance Calling on MPs to back Decarbonisation Target in the Commons
The Methodist Church, the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the United Reformed Church are among 55 organisations calling on MPs to vote in favour of a decarbonisation measure in the House of Commons on 4 June
MPs will vote on an amendment to the Energy Bill put forward by Tim Yeo MP and Barry Gardiner MP which would introduce a target to commit the UK to a near-carbon free power sector by 2030.
The alliance is united in the belief that the Energy Bill represents a major opportunity to put the UK firmly on track to becoming a world leading low-carbon economy, boost employment and show genuine leadership in the fight against dangerous climate change.
At their Party Conference last year Liberal Democrats passed a resolution urging the coalition government to introduce a decarbonisation target.
The Revd Dr Martyn Atkins, General Secretary of the Methodist Church, has written to every Liberal Democrat MP, urging them to vote in line with their own party policy when the Energy Bill comes to the House of Commons on 3 and 4 June.
Ahead of the debate in the Commons, the Methodist Church, the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the United Reformed Church launched a report on fuel poverty and the role of clean low-carbon energy.
The report, designed as a briefing for the Energy Bill, stresses that investment in low-carbon energy does not cause fuel poverty. 'The main cause of increasing fuel poverty is a general rise in energy costs, specifically of gas and oil,' states the report.
'Recent studies show that the most effective way of reducing fuel poverty is through targeted energy efficiency improvement.'