New UK Government Plan on Green Heating Is a Disgrace

It is simply crazy. Not only is the credit crunch tightening people’s budgets and purchasing power, but heating bills are taking an increasing chunk of available income.  The poorest in society, often the elderly, are often also the most vulnerable in terms of their health. During the big temperature freezes of the past winter, it was they who needed to keep warm the most. However more and more they simply cannot pay their heating bils in order to keep warm.

“Green Energy” is something repeated daily by the government and huge energy companies alike. It’s supposed to be the answer to the world’s problems. You can save money and save the world at the same time - its just perfect. With this mantra on their lips, they win votes and build wind farms, supposedly for our benefit.

But the recent announcement by the UK government exposes that to be the swindle that it is. The “Renewable Heating Incentive” is a plan to build more wind turbines and solar panels to replace fossil fuel energy sources. Yet it’s not the energy corporations who are going to foot the bill for this. The money to fund this scheme is ultimately going to come from ordinary people’s pockets! The government intends to introduce a levy for companies depending on how much energy from fossil fuels they provide. However the energy corporations intend to force their customers to pay this levy, by increasing our heating bills.

The price of gas incresed by nearly sixty percent in the past year, and electricty costs went up by over a quarter. This meant that millions had to think twice about switching on their portable heaters. In the midst of increasing poverty, the “go green” banner has been used as a solution for families to ease hardship by paying less for energy bills. Yet this idea will fly in the face of that logic, by punishing society’s poor. Basically, if you have money, you will be able to afford the necessary home improvements to make your house ecologically powered. But if you can’t, and resort to using fan heaters or oil filled radiators to warm your house when the temperatures drop, you’ll be hit with higher energy bills. The same will be true even if you factor in the low interest loans scheme that is supposedly aimed at making it more affordable for people to go greener. If you’re already up to your neck in debts and worried about making rent next month, you’re hardly likely to take out a new loan, low interest or not. If the introduction of university student loans have taught us anything, its that offering low interest loans only make these schemes more appealing to the middle classes.

Is this not an unfair situation? To my mind it would be far more just, and sensible, to make sure that the money for such schemes comes out of the mega-profits made by these huge energy conglomerates.They could then use this significant sum to subsidise green refubishment on lower income houses, so that they can benefit from reduced heating bills. Please contribute your thoughts on this matter.