As the Labour Party in Westminster undertakes a cabinet reshuffle, Welsh Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the Environment Mick Bates AM welcomes the newly created Energy and Climate Change Department, which will be headed by Ed Miliband MP as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.
Previously energy and climate change policy have been dealt with separately, but will now be combined into one new governmental department. Commenting, Mick states:
"I am pleased that the Government is finally waking up to the link between energy security and climate change by combining these two portfolios into one new governmental department. This is the biggest challenge outside the current economic crisis and I hope that this change will mark the beginning of a new programme towards reducing carbon emissions across the UK.
"Our current powers in Wales have left us ill-equipped to deliver on renewable energy and make the progress that we need in reducing our carbon emissions. There now exists an opportunity for the Assembly Government to push for Wales to have control over developments above 50MW, so that we have a real say over our country's future energy supply. We need to see the devolution of power over building regulations in Wales, so that we can move towards more energy efficient homes and combat fuel poverty by reducing our energy use.
"The Welsh Assembly Government must work with the new Energy and Climate Change department in Westminster and I urge our Minister Jane Davidson to meet with Ed Miliband MP, to lobby for more powers for Wales, so that we can make real progress towards a greener future."
