York has a crucial role to play in tackling climate change and promoting Green Jobs says the city’s Liberal Democrat Executive Member for the Environment, Cllr Andrew Waller.  

Cllr Waller will move a motion at next week’s Full Council calling on political groups to work together to increase recycling, reduce carbon emissions, and expand the use of renewable and community power projects in York. If successful the motion will also mean that before any decision is taken by the Council the environmental implications will have to be assessed.

The motion also calls on the Conservative Government to change its policies after energy company Drax announced last week that it was abandoning a £1billion project to introduce ‘carbon capture’ technology at its plant in North Yorkshire. This followed the Government’s decision to reduce subsidies for renewable energy.

Cllr Andrew Waller, Liberal Democrat Executive Member for the Environment, commented:  

“The upcoming UN Conference on Climate Change should see the EU commit to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% before 2030. York should be ready to play its part in this and as a local council we need to be increasing recycling to over 50%, reducing carbon emissions, and expanding the use of renewable power generation.

“Following the local election we have already begun to make progress. We have ditched Labour’s plans to charge residents for their first Green Bin collection and we are re-establishing a Green Jobs Task Group. We are also committing to working towards the principle of ‘One Planet Living’ to ensure that sustainability is at the heart of what we do as a local council.

“To fulfil our ambitions regionally we also need the help of Government. This is why last week’s announcement by Drax was so disappointing. It showed that the Conservative Government’s decision to cut support for renewable energy following the election is already having a direct effect and putting local jobs at risk. A change of approach is desperately needed.”