If you would like to endorse this open letter, please write to the Commissioner as described in Writing to Commissioner Almunia.
Please spread the word via Facebook, Twitter, etc. Current signatories are shown at the bottom of the letter. Copies of the letter, with endorsements, will be sent to Joaquín Almunia, European Commissioner for Competition, and also to Günther Oettinger, European Commissioner for Energy, Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action, and José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. TO JOAQUÍN ALMUNIA, EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR COMPETITIONDear Commissioner Almunia, No valid justification for subsidising nuclear powerIn connection with the proposed new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point in south-west England (reut.rs/1fPaYlx), we are writing to urge you to oppose the new subsidies for the project that are proposed by the UK government and also existing subsidies for nuclear operators (details below). Please open a formal investigation into this project and associated subsidies. There is no valid justification for subsidising nuclear power. It diverts resources from other options that are better and cheaper. For reasons given below, nuclear subsidies are bad for energy security, bad for the fight against climate change, bad financially for consumers and taxpayers in the UK, and bad for the development, throughout Europe, of the good alternatives which are ready to go, cheaper than nuclear power, and very much quicker to build. Here are the main reasons:
Evidence in support of these points is in the web page "Opportunity cost" (bit.ly/KisjOT). Existing subsidies for nuclear power, all of which would be available for the Hinkley Point project, are described in "Nuclear Subsidies" (PDF, bit.ly/1bSgGhx). One of the largest of these is the cap on liabilities for nuclear disasters. Proposed new subsidies are chiefly the "contracts for difference" and government guarantees against the financial risks of building new nuclear plants. (see also "Subsidies for nuclear power in the UK government’s proposals for electricity market reform", PDF, bit.ly/1de3BTE). Subsidies for nuclear power have the effect of diverting resources away from technologies which are cheaper than nuclear power and altogether more effective as a means of meeting our energy needs and cutting emissions. In terms of competition within the EU, state aid for nuclear power in the UK is entirely at odds with the coming single market for electricity in the EU and with the principle that there should be free movement of goods and services throughout the region. It is bad for the development, throughout Europe, of the good, effective alternatives -- renewables with conservation of energy -- which are ready to go, cheaper than nuclear power, and very much quicker to build. Please oppose state aid for nuclear power in the UK or anywhere else in the EU. Please open a formal investigation into the proposed Hinkley Point project and associated subsidies. With thanks, Martin Caton MP, www.martin-caton.co.uk Jill Evans MEP, www.jillevans.net/jill_evans_english.html Kelvin Hopkins MP, www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/kelvin-hopkins Bethan Jenkins AM, www.partyofwales.org/bethan-jenkins-am Caroline Lucas MP, www.carolinelucas.com Mike MacKenzie MSP, www.snp.org/people/mike-mackenzie John Mason MSP, www.john-mason.org John McDonnell MP, www.john-mcdonnell.net Senator David Norris, www.senatordavidnorris.ie Franz Obermayr MEP, bit.ly/1cKYDcV Niccolò Rinaldi MEP, www.niccolorinaldi.it Margaret Ritchie MP, www.margaretritchie.comMichèle Rivasi MEP europeangreens.eu/people/michèle-rivasi Emmet Stagg TD, Labour Party whip, Houses of the Oireachtas, Ireland, www.labour.ie/emmetstagg Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM, www.rhodriglynthomas.org Britta Thomsen MEP, www.brittathomsen.dk Dr Abhishek Agarwal, senior lecturer, energy strategy, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, www.rgu.ac.uk/abhishek-agarwal Dr Ruth Balogh, nuclear issues campaigner, W Cumbria & N Lakes Friends of the Earth Professor Keith Barnham, emeritus professor of physics, Imperial College London, bit.ly/1aZUEq6 Emmanuel Bergasse, energy economist, www.case-research.eu/en/node/51834 Marianne Birkby, Radiation Free Lakeland, mariannewildart.wordpress.com Professor Andy Blowers, chair, Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group, co-chair, DECC/NGO Nuclear Forum bit.ly/18vjFj4 Paul Brown, editor, Climate News Network, www.climatenewsnetwork.net Shaun Burnie, member, Nuclear Consulting Group, www.nuclearconsult.com John Busby, The Busby Report, www.after-oil.co.uk Councillor Mark Dearey, all Ireland forum chair, Nuclear Free Local Authorities, nfznsc.gn.apc.org Paul Dorfman, coordinator, Nuclear Consulting Group, www.nuclearconsult.com Jill Gough, CND Cymru, www.cndcymru.org Councillor Mark Hackett, NFLA steering committee and UK chair, Nuclear Free Local Authorities, nfznsc.gn.apc.org Reg Illingworth, Shepperdine Against Nuclear Energy, www.shepperdineagainstnuclearenergy.org.uk Velizar Kiriakov, Association of Producers of Ecological Energy, www.apee.bg Dr Fulcieri Maltini, FM Consultants Associates Charlotte Mijeon, international relations representative for Sortir du Nucléaire, www.sortirdunucleaire.org/ Professor Ian Miles, professor of technological innovation and social change, University of Manchester, research.mbs.ac.uk/innovation Dylan Morgan, PAWB, Pobl Atal Wylfa B/People Against Wylfa B, stop-wylfa.org Jouni Nissinen, head of environmental policy unit, The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation (FANC), www.sll.fi/site-actions/english Dr Stuart Parkinson, executive director, Scientists for Global Responsibility, www.sgr.org.uk David Polden, Kick Nuclear, stopnuclearpoweruk.net/groups/kicknuclear Sir Jonathon Porritt CBE, founder director, Forum for the Future, www.forumforthefuture.org Peter Roche, coordinator, No2NuclearPower and MicrogenScotland.org.uk, www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk, www.microgenscotland.org.uk Ornella Saibene, Nikki Clark, South West Against Nuclear, southwestagainstnuclear.wordpress.com Heffa Schücking, coordinator, Urgewald, urgewald.org Oliver Tickell, coordinator, Nuclear Pledge and Kyoto2, www.nuclearpledge.com, www.kyoto2.org Dale Vince, founder and managing director, Ecotricity, www.ecotricity.co.uk Andrew Warren, director, Association for the Conservation of Energy, www.ukace.org Pete Wilkinson, Wilkinson Environmental Consulting Ltd, www.nuclearwasteadvisory.co.uk Susanne Wixforth, economic policies department, AK Wien, wien.arbeiterkammer.at Dr Gerry Wolff, coordinator, Energy Fair, www.energyfair.org.uk If you would like to endorse this open letter, please write to the Commissioner as described in Writing to Commissioner Almunia. 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