Plans by the Conservative Party to replace the Climate Change Act have come under fire for locking Britain into costly gas imports at a time when North Sea reserves are rapidly running out.
Environmental groups also condemned the move, with the E3G think tank describing it as “a monstrous act of economic and environmental vandalism.”
A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, commented:
“Kemi Badenoch says that the Conservatives want to put ‘economic growth and cheap energy first’, but there is no way to lower bills or energy security by prolonging our dependence on gas.
“By 2027, the UK will not be able to produce enough gas to heat our homes. And, even if new gas fields are approved, by 2050 the country will be left almost entirely reliant on gas imports as the level of reserves in the North Sea gas basin continues to deplete.
“Keeping households hooked on gas – which we will have to import at global prices from countries such as Trump’s America and Qatar – will only increase the profits of global firms and increase the misery of people unable to afford the sky-high prices.”