Austerity "scaremongering" threatens renewable projects

Respected environmental campaigner Tony Juniper has damned the austerity “scaremongering” that threatens renewable projects. Speaking at trade body RenewableUK’s annual conference on wind, wave and tidal today, the new Chair […]

Respected environmental campaigner Tony Juniper has damned the austerity “scaremongering” that threatens renewable projects.

Speaking at trade body RenewableUK’s annual conference on wind, wave and tidal today, the new Chair of the Action for Renewables campaign criticised a “new wave of 1980s-style rhetoric on austerity [which] is wrongly condemning renewables and environmental measures as too expensive.”

But policy wasn’t solely to blame, he added: “In the media, a misleading narrative about the effectiveness and efficiency of renewables has been allowed to take root. At the local level, opposition groups are fed by misinformation and scaremongering about renewable energy developments.”

To counter these challenges, he said industry co-operation was needed to keep renewables successfully on the agenda: “Action for Renewables will be part of the way in which we offer this narrative to the public. If the industry can rally round the campaign, we can start to help provide a voice for the silent majority of the public that supports renewable energy.”

The Action for Renewables campaign is loosely linked with British trade body RenewableUK. It works on a local and national level to support renewable developments.

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