Locals Say No To Nuclear (Scarborough and Whitby Liberal Democrats)

Scarborough and Whitby Liberal Democrats <info@scarboroughandwhitbylibdems.org.uk>

Locals Say No To Nuclear

February 11, 2006 9:30 AM

Tony Blair has just launched a public consultation exercise about the issue of nuclear power.

The Government has accepted that it currently has no chance of meeting its emissions targets in 2010. In fact, carbon emissions in the UK have been rising since 1997. Tony Blair is keen to see further investment in nuclear energy, the so-called "clean" alternative.

In December, to mark International Climate Change Action Day, local Liberal Democrats surveyed people in Scarborough town centre and found that there was a resounding "no" to nuclear.

While many people interviewed were undecided, few said "yes" to the prospect of increased investment in nuclear energy and a clear 66% said no.

Most of those interviewed felt that the Government was not doing enough to address climate change and nearly everyone agreed that it was not investing adequately in research into tidal and wave energy and offshore wind farms. Even the Lib Dem policy of taxing aviation fuel, a policy that would inevitably hit many of us who benefit from the modern phenomenon of cheap air travel, was welcomed by those questioned.

Mr Blair, the people of Scarborough are clearly of the same mind. There is no such thing as "clean" nuclear fuel just as there is no truly safe way of storing nuclear waste. With the threat of Boultby Mines being used to store nuclear waste, this is clearly a very local issue. I just hope that we locals get to have our say in what I hope will be a "real" public consultation exercise.