Laura Sandys: Heavy industry must lead the renewables rush

Laura Sandys
Saturday 30 June 2012 22:25 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

There are few terms in today's industrial dictionary so ill-defined as the catch-all "green economy". Most activities of a truly green economy are not green per se – the heavy manufacturing of turbine blades is not exactly green.

But let no one say that energy-intensive industries are not committed to lower energy inputs. They are the ones biting the hands off producers of technologies that reduce their energy consumption; they are at the forefront of trying to reduce energy costs.

The "green" community is sometimes accused of living in a parallel universe to those who will bear the brunt of any green tax or low-carbon incentive. We must confront this myth and break down these barriers because it is much more important for those industries that consume the most to be at the heart of any industrial redesign. It is their productivity, their competitiveness and the resilience of the jobs they create that will make for a truly vibrant green economy.

Laura Sandys is Conservative MP for South Thanet

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in