Grumpy David wrote:Would prefer we "frack baby frack". Dig up the huge supply of shale gas we're sitting on. Destabilising the economies of Russia and the Middle East by reducing our dependence on them is fine by me.
Legalise, tax and regulate weed at the same time.
2 brand new rapid growth industries...don't need to leave the EU to do either...but a nice source of tax revenue and a politically significant act.
Whilst normally I dislike nimbyism, I have seen articles on water table contamination that demand pause for thought. Initially I was quite in favour of gas as far more economical than other fuels but I have been forced to reconsider. American may operate on the principle of assuming things are safe until proved otherwise but we should hold ourselves to a higher health and environmental standard.
Also, the British Isles are an extremely rich area for wind and tidal power so we've made massive step forwards in 2017 in generating from renewable. Seems to make more sense to invest in that than tearing up the countryside and pumping the land full of chemicals for another finite resource.
Of course, the most immediate way to save money in energy generation would be the terminate the Hinkley C mess. Ludicrously expensive unproven generator that is likely to be obsolete and outcompeted at every turn by solar, wind and tidal by the time it's up and running and battery tech makes base load power much less important. Germany is actually in the process of phasing out nuclear energy because it's been made redundant. Building a whole new generation of plants for decades to come is madness.