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Article Source: https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-news/2021/lets-make-britain-energy-independent
Accessed from the world wide web at 12:00 hrs 29.06.21.
Moving to 100% green energy is essential if we’re going to beat the climate crisis. But it also has other benefits, helping countries across the world be self-reliant when it comes to the energy they need.
The Ecotricity founder, Dale Vince, outlined his vision for energy independence in the Daily Express newspaper as part of their Green Britain campaign.
“Fighting the climate crisis is usually presented from a perspective of morality: our obligation to look after the planet, to think of future generations – or even polar bears.
“It’s an altruistic act, something we do for others more than ourselves.
“I think it’s wrong, not just to present it this way but to see it this way.
“Today in Britain we spend £50billion every year importing fossil fuels just to burn them. That’s £1billion per week.
“It’s three times the sum on the side of Boris Johnson’s Brexit bus – but actually real.
“We spend this money in global markets for oil and gas, where the price is openly manipulated by cartels.
“We have no say in this. We are price takers not price makers.
“In recent years the price of oil has been three times higher than it is today – that £50billion can easily become £150billion.
“It’s an incredible sum leaving our economy every week and we endure the most incredible economic volatility.
“This weakens us. It keeps us poor and keeps us guessing.
“It doesn’t need to be like this. We have enough energy of our own, right here in Britain. We can power our entire country, several times over, from the wind, the sun and the sea.
“If for just a year or two we spend that £50billion harnessing our own renewable energy, we can plug that massive hole in our economy and end our exposure to international oil and currency markets.
“We could make our economy strong and independent. In the process we’ll create hundreds of thousands of sustainable jobs and we’ll clean up the air we breathe. Fighting the climate crisis is just the icing on the cake.
“Energy independence is not just for Britain, or just the G7 richest nations who met (11-13 June 2021) in Cornwall.
“It’s available to every nation of the world. The wind and the sun are everywhere, not concentrated in a few geographical locations as oil and gas are. They can’t be controlled by cartels and international markets.
“Renewable energy is a massive democratising force for the world.
“The industrial revolution began in Britain, powered by fossil fuels.
“It’s fitting that we lead the next one – the green industrial revolution, powered by the wind and sun.”
Green energy is winning the argument at every level.
Switch to Ecotricity and we’ll use your bill money to invest in new sources of renewable energy and build a greener Britain.