A local view on climate change
Almost every household who responded to a recent Warwickshire County Council Citizens Panel question on climate change said they should be switching off more in their homes.
Fascinating figures on local attitudes have today been revealed following the Citizens Panel on ‘Climate Change and the Energy We Use’.
The Citizens Panel is a random poll of 1,000 Warwickshire households and the results come in the same week as Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a speech about how the UK should move towards a low carbon economy.
In his speech he talked of how we need to make changes in how we operate - in business, the public sector and in our private lives. This includes how we generate our electricity and heat as well as much increased energy efficiency.
The Citizens Panel found:
88% agree that the UK government and other politicians are right to be taking climate change so seriously;
76% of panel members are concerned about its effect on their own lives, whilst 90% are concerned about the impacts on their children;
Most respondents (88%) agree that a share of Warwickshire’s electricity consumption should be generated within the county boundaries;
93% agreed it was sensible to plan to generate more electricity from local sources of renewable fuel;
Given some background information about what target Warwickshire should set for generating electricity from renewable sources within its boundaries in 2015, just over a quarter of those replying thought the target for generating electricity from renewable fuel sources in 2015 should remain at 7.5%, while over half 54% chose options of 10% or 15% (national target);
When considering planning proposals, most panel members (60%) believe that national/international issues and local issues are as important as each other, of the remaining respondents, twice as many thought national/international ones to be more important than local issues;
92% ‘strongly’ and ‘tended to agree’ that they had "a responsibility to do more than switching off unnecessary lights and equipment, and recycling as much as they can".
Cllr Alan Cockburn, the county council’s Portfolio Holder for Resources, said: “The council already has these big issues on its agenda and in the last budget round allocated over £1m towards renewable energy and energy monitoring systems projects in new and existing properties.
“We have also allocated £50k this year to understand how we can generate renewable heat and electricity from resources on our own estate in order to further reduce our own carbon emissions.
“The issues of climate change and energy security raise difficult decisions at times when everyone’s budgets are being stretched and we need to ensure we make best use of all our resources. The results of this Citizen’s Panel give support to the actions we have taken so far and will be looked at closely as a part of deciding how we move forward.”
Cllr Martin Heatley, Portfolio Holder for Environment, said: “Led by the county council, there has been a Warwickshire Climate Change Strategy in place since Summer 2006 [celebrating two years of progress on Thursday, 3 July].
“The Strategy is currently under review and the panel results will also be used to help with this process. Subject to agreement with public, private and voluntary sector partners this could include setting of targets for how Warwickshire could best achieve its share of renewable electricity and heat.”