THE Green Party have blasted Wes Streeting's pledge to allow more drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea.
In a speech in London on Tuesday, the Labour leadership hopeful outlined his proposals to tap the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields in the North Sea and use tax receipts to boost a green energy uptake.
But it has led to backlash from environmental campaigners, with the Green Party depute leader Rachel Millward describing the move as "environmentally reckless and economically illiterate”.
She added: “Rosebank alone contains enough fossil fuel to produce over 200 million tonnes of CO2 if burned - more than the combined annual emissions of 28 low-income countries.
“Opening up these oilfields will do nothing to improve energy security or bring down bills either, because any oil and gas extracted will be sold at global prices on the world market." However, Streeting defended his proposals, saying: “The right approach is not to pretend North Sea oil and gas is the future, or to treat every remaining project as a moral catastrophe.
“It is to manage decline responsibly, apply strict climate tests, and channel the proceeds into projects that will cut bills and cut emissions.”
The senior Labour figure added: “It is to protect the workers in oil and gas, who’ve seen words like ‘just transition’ translate into jobs for someone else, somewhere else. We should be working with the unions on this – not least on making sure that we’re building our clean power future here in Britain, not simply importing it from China.”
He went on: “Some will argue that this risks forfeiting our moral leadership on the climate issue. I simply don’t buy that argument.
“The best example we can set is to show the world that net zero is compatible with a pro-growth agenda. The worst example would be losing support for the net zero agenda, handing the country to Nigel Farage, and allowing Reform to destroy the renewables industry.”
Greenpeace’s UK’s political campaigner Angharad Hopkinson also hit out at the proposals, saying it is a “business scheme worthy of Del Boy”.
“Any windfall from tax receipts would only be temporary because this basin is in terminal decline, not to mention the escalating costs in lives and money from more extreme weather. Streeting is backing the wrong horse several decades after it has bolted,” she said.
“What climate tests can he possibly have in mind when our planet is already on fire? Squeezing out the last few drops of oil or gas will do nothing to lower our bills, and will only delay jobs and investment in the clean economy - the real growth opportunity.
“Streeting would do well to consult some of the 20,000 scientists he plans to recruit before announcing any more policies."
