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Climate change targets will push UK households into "fuel
poverty"
Nina Chestney and Peter Griffiths
Reuters
Tuesday, Dec 02, 2008
British households could face big rises in their
energy bills under plans to reduce the role of fossil fuels and
cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by more than a third
by 2020, Britain's chief climate change adviser said on Monday.
The Committee on Climate Change said the price hike
could push more than 1.7 million houses into fuel poverty, when
families spend more than a tenth of their income on energy to
keep warm.
Warnings of higher fuel bills come as Britain faces a deepening
recession, with rising unemployment and plummeting house prices.
(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)
"I cannot deny that there will be higher electricity and
gas prices," Committee Chairman Adair Turner told Reuters.
"But that adverse impact can be offset by energy efficiency
improvement subsidies."
Such subsidies could include discounted fuel bills for people
on low incomes and grants to pay for energy-saving home improvements.
Bills would rise because companies have to invest significant
amounts in renewable energy sources and meet higher carbon prices,
Turner's first report to the government said.
Energy and Climate Minister Ed Miliband has already accepted
the committee's proposal to sharpen a binding national target
to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, to an 80 percent cut
from 60 percent.
Full
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