New Green Deal To Cut Carbon Emissions

After a debate that apparently pitched the Prime Minister against the Chancellor, the Government is set to announce plans to drastically cut carbon emissions across the UK.

The deal will be announced this week and has been cautiously welcomed by environmentalists.

At the Windmill Windfarm in Swindon there was a surprise on hearing that David Cameron is about to go further than any prime minister before with a radical "carbon budget".

As late as Saturday, environmentalists were warning he would renege on the promise he made at the start of the coalition that it would be "the greenest government ever".

But now it seems he is about to deliver.

Windfarm founder Adam Twine told Sky News: "It's very exciting. If the Energy Secretary can pull this off it will be a real coup.

"It is what we need if we are to have any real commitment to decrease our impact on climate change. We need really robust and assertive policies to be pushed through".

In a surprise move, Mr Cameron is expected to commit the UK to two decades of drastic carbon emissions reductions and make them legally binding - putting the UK ahead of almost any other country.

It comes after reports of arguments within the Cabinet with Chancellor George Osborne and Business Secretary Vince Cable, concerned about the cost and the implications for economic recovery.

Environmental campaigner George Monbiot said: "There is always going to be an urge to put long term interests behind short term interests.

"And there is always going to be an excuse for that. But we are not playing with something trivial here.

"This is about the survival of the earth system, the biosphere which gives us life and sustains everything including the economy.

"And if you constantly put that second and put everything else first then eventually that policy will turn around and bite us."

If Mr Cameron does announce tough measures to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels it will involve radical changes in homes, businesses and transport.

The moves may prove unpopular especially at the beginning when any financial pain may not be matched by obvious gains.

Phillip Inman, economic correspondent at The Guardian, said: "Businesses will be up in arms.

"They will think it is an extra cost and to some extent they will be right. There are going to be extra costs to bear.

"And they have had a bit of a free ride for a long time. And we are going to have to knuckle down and pay for this investment.

"But it is an investment and it is going to come good for us in the end."

That argument may prove a hard sell at a time of economic difficulty, however the Government does seem committed to a radical shift in how to meet energy demand.

What may also be needed from the rest of us is a high shift in that level of demand long term.