Coutinho Slams Biomass Plant She Signed Off As Energy Secretary in Eco Self Own
An interesting intervention from Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho in The Times this morning, slamming North Yorkshire power station Drax over its biomass technology. She criticised the firm, saying the case for its technology had ‘unravelled’, briefing that the Tories have ‘withdrawn’ their support (despite extensive previous Tory backing from multiple Prime Ministers). An intervention intended to impress plenty of sound net zero sceptic Tories like Dominic Lawson, who have made similar points before. There’s only one problem…
As Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Coutinho herself signed off plans to approve an expansion of the very technology, by the very same firm. A Development Consent Order, signed off by her, reads:
“The Secretary of State has considered the overall planning balance and, for the reasons set out in this letter, has concluded that the public benefits associated with the Proposed Development outweigh the harm identified, and that development consent should therefore be granted.”
She writes in her op-ed:
“As secretary of state, I faced enormous insistence from officials to pass legislation to enshrine these plans. However, after a development consent order was sent off in my name, I started pulling at threads and the case for Beccs simply unravelled.’”
‘Sent off in my name’ doing a lot of heavy lifting there. It ain’t easy being (anti) green…
