Wales Green Party have submitted their response to the WAG consultation Renewable Energy Route Map for Wales and have called for micro-generation together with improved energy efficiency to become the cornerstone of Wales' energy policy. This consultation is a useful first step in the consideration of changes to electrical energy production, small-scale heat and electricity production and domestic energy consumption.

Wales Green Party support the personal commitment of Jane Davidson and the assertion that Wales can obtain the electricity it requires from renewable sources. However, it doubts the overall commitment of both Labour and its coalition partner Plaid Cymru to deliver on renewable energy rather than support the expansion of nuclear power in Wales. The Wales Green Party calls on Rhodri Morgan and Ieuan Wyn Jones to state their support for a Wales powered by renewable energy and free from nuclear power stations.

Through out the economy, the pattern of energy production and use is going to change drastically over the next two decades, due to the effect of peak oil and the need to reduce CO2 production. The Green Party believe Wales is well placed with significant opportunities to develop its renewable energy potential. However, this opportunity is going to be missed. The Wales Green Party consultation calls on WAG to:

• Start a major programme to retro-fit energy efficiency into existing homes.
• Provide significant financial support for the development of micro-generation in Wales.
• State opposition to continued nuclear power in Wales
• Support local biomass from coppicing and forest floor residues to provide a community-level contribution to carbon-neutral energy generation.
• Increase re-use and re-cycling of waste rather than incineration. Incinerating waste for energy production discourages recycling and waste reduction and act as a drive to greater consumption of goods to produce waste.

Leila Kiersch, the Wales Green Party Leader, said "It is clear that Wales can obtain the electricity it requires from renewable energy. With the increasing costs of oil and the environmental damage associated with global warming increasing renewable energy use can bring significant financial and environmental benefits. For Wales' full potential to be realised with self sufficiency in energy there must be a significant increase in the energy efficiency of buildings both new and old and in micro generation of energy at the point where it is used."

Leila Kiersch continued "The Wales Green Party call on Rhodri Morgan to publicly state his opposition to both replacing the existing and to building new nuclear power stations in Wales.We also call on the Plaid Cymru Leader to come clean on what the Plaid policy is on a new Nuclear power station on Ynys Mon and stop flip flopping about - does he personally support it or is he going to follow others in Plaid and oppose it'.

To view the full Wales Green Party response to the WAG consultation Renewable Energy Route Map for Wales visit wales.greenparty.org.uk

For further information (English or Welsh language) contact Leila Kiersch Wales Green Party Principal Speaker - 01974 261340/07817 83714 or Wales Green Party Press Officer Jake Griffiths on 07752754537 and cantongreens@hotmail.co.uk .

A list of all candidates in Wales can be found here. For more information about the elections, including policies, go to votegreenparty.org.uk.

Over the past year Plaid Cymru have instigated a number of policies which have shattered any illusions of environmental responsibility that they once may have had. Ieuan Wyn Jones has made a number of policy flip flops or supported policies which will lead to emissions increase of greenhouse gases.

• Ieuan Wyn Jones gave his official support to the new six lane Gwent Levels M4 motorway road during his first Ministerial speech despite all the evidence of the damage the proposed new road will cause - a policy 'u' turn for Plaid. Traffic levels are growing faster in Wales than anyother part of the UK with growth of over 20% expected on major trunk roads and motorways in Wales over the next 7 years. The building of the new M4 will provide the road space for this growth in traffic to occur in Cardiff and South East Wales and impact on the ability to reduce the Wales' greenhouse gas emissions.More than 25% of the CO2 emissions come from transport and 13% of this is from cars. The M4 Relief would cut across several important wildlife conservation areas including the Gwent Levels (Sites of Special Scientific Interest). The Gwent Levels are a nationally important site which is Wales' largest coastal floodplain grassland site and amongst the best four sites of its type in the UK. Funding for the new motorway is likely to be well over budget at around £1 Billion starving more sustainable transport solutions such as the reintroduction of trams in Cardiff or completing the city's cycle network.

• Plaid Cymru's decision not to pass on to bus companies the fuel duty rebate was a retrograde decision. The duty has been paid to bus companies in England while in Wales the failure of the Assembly to pay the bill will mean, for some bus passengers, the third increase in just over a year at a time when we should be encouraging people to use buses rather than cars.

• Ieuan Wyn Jones has expressed support for nuclear power on Ynys Mon was clearly a vote grabbing exercise during the last elections and ran against his own parties policies which seemed to be a move against more nuclear power - yet another example of flip flopping on policy decisions. Plaid Cymru have yet to say how they would treat/store the nuclear waste originating from a nuclear power station on Ynys Mon.

• Plaid Cymru has support the expansion of air flights in Wales giving government subsides of some £800,000 to the service between Ynys Mon and Cardiff. This when most analysts say that we should be cutting back on flights for environmental reasons and when there is a good rail service taking four hours between the centre of Cardiff and Bangor.

• Plaid Cymru has expressed support for the St Athans military academy. The military base funded privately is likely to not only provide training for the British army but also foreign governments and private security organisations.

ENDS

For more information contact John Matthews on 07973938168

She said 'Whilst only 14 rural post offices have been earmarked for closure, this is 14 too many. These forced closures will be in addition to the steady decline in rural post offices across Wales. Living in a rural location myself I have seen two of my nearest post offices close, with a third, Llanilar, now on the condemned list. It is this loss of services and the jobs that go with them which turns thriving villages and hamlets into commuter country. '

She continued 'When small shops, schools, and services are lost this increases the pressure on people living in the countryside to travel to meet their needs. This disadvantages those without their own vehicle and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.'

Wales Green Party are calling on the Welsh Assembly to give serious consideration into buying out these Post Offices like Essex county council is proposing to do. They argue that such a move would help ensure their survival and could revive rural areas. Candidates for Wales Green Party standing in the forthcoming council elections have promised to make support for local services and businesses one of their key priorities if elected.

Photo attached - Wales Green Party Principle Speaker and Councillor Marilyn Elson launch the Welsh Assembly Election campaign by promising first class local services.

ENDS

For further information contact Leila Kiersch Wales Green Party Principal Speaker - 01974 261340 / 07817 837314 or (bilingual response) Wales Green Party Press Officer Jake Griffiths on 07752754537 and cantongreens@hotmail.co.uk

She also expressed her doubt that the government's target for reducing child poverty could be met without much greater spending commitments, with the £3.4bn calculated to be required gallingly matching the £3.3bn due to be spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations this year alone.

Mrs Kiersch said:

"This Budget isn't Green, it's Brown. After spinning extensively that we were going to see the most environmental budget ever, the government have given us more of the same.

"Under pressure from roads lobbyists, he has backed down on the already timid 2p rise in fuel duty, putting it back until autumn apparently due to high oil prices. If he really thinks oil will be cheap by October, his basic understanding of economics must surely be in doubt. Fossil fuel costs will remain high as long as demand remains high, and cowardly decisions like this will only make the problem worse, not better.

"The £20 increase in child benefit is of course welcome, but it falls well short of what is required to meet the government's laudable targets for cutting child poverty. The £3.4bn that it would take to halve child poverty by 2010 is instead being spent on occupying Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008 alone. We need a real commitment to spending on the things that matter, we need to insist that employers pay a real living wage, and we need to end the assault course of benefit traps and welfare blackmail that the government has set up on the border between benefits and work."

"He has focused on Economic Growth over long term stability and happiness -simple measures like charging for plastic bags will not 'save the planet', especially when placed next to incentives for further exploration of North Sea oil and gas reserves and planned airport expansion. Altering the way the economy is structured by raising revenue from green taxation is possible and can be ring-fenced (hypothecated). This taxation should not be in addition but as a replacement for existing taxation. Reintroducing the 10p rate of income tax is one example of how green taxation needn't mean more taxation."

ENDS

For further information contact Leila Kiersch Wales Green Party Principal Speaker - 01974 261340 / 07817 837314 or (bilingual response) Wales Green Party Press Officer Jake Griffiths on 07752754537 and cantongreens@hotmail.co.uk

The call was made the day after a new report drew attention to the problem of poverty in rural parts of England (1) including access deprivation - something that is all too prevalent in Wales and will be made worse by the Labour/Plaid decision not to give the 2p bus fuel rebate which will lead to a 10% increase in fuel bills. A further 2p fuel duty rebate was also due to be paid in April.

John Matthews said "the Welsh Assembly Government decision not to pass on to bus companies the fuel duty rebate is a retrograde decision. The duty has been paid to bus companies in England while in Wales the failure of the Assembly to pay the bill will mean, for some bus passengers, the third increase in just over a year."

"This decision will hit the poorest people hardest as they are unlikely to have access to alternative transport. It does nothing to encourage people to use public transport and has the opposite effect, turning people away from bus travel. Bus fares have risen faster than other forms of transport, in particular the real cost of car use. Rail fares have risen by 6% and bus fares by 13%. It flies in the face of the Assembly commitment to sustainable development"

John Matthews, the Wales Green Party Deputy Leader, continued "I shall be writing to Ieuan Wyn Jones - the Plaid minister responsible for transport - to ask him to pay the 2p rebate due last autumn and make a commitment to pay a further 2p rebate due in April".

ENDS

Notes for editor

(1) news.bbc.co.uk Poverty 'blights 1m rural homes'

-- For further information (English or Welsh language) contact John Matthews Wales Green Party Deputy Leader on 07973938168 or Wales Green Party Press Officer Jake Griffiths on 07752754537 and cantongreens@hotmail.co.uk .2008

To date the Labour party has a terrible record on developing renewable energy in Wales and across the UK compared to many parts of Europe. Currently the UK obtains only 2% of energy from renewable sources - only Malta and Luxembourg have a lower contribution. Last year 270 photovoltaic renewable systems were installed across the UK compared to 130,000 in Germany. Not a single scheme was approved last month while Germany installed 12,000 solar PV systems (1).

Leila Kiersch "The Wales Green Party welcomes changes to planning guidance which would help ease the restrictions to the installation of micro renewables for domestic purposes, however much more is need. To see real change renewable energy use in the short term should receive a subsidy in the form of a Feed-In-Tariff. These have been implemented successfully in Germany and a number of other countries. However such a scheme would currently fall under the responsibility of the Labour Party at Westminster and we call on Jane Davidson to speak to her London Labour colleagues at the Treasury to help put in place a renewable energy Feed-In-Tariff."

"Micro-generation needn't be intrusive whilst it is still capable of still delivering low carbon energy and cutting Wales' dependency on fossil and nuclear sources. The Wales Green Party has long argued for the need to move from a national grid towards decentralisation, thus empowering communities to be in charge of where their energy comes from."

"The proposal suggests an increase in waste incineration. There are many problems associated with the burning of waste. They have been linked to cancer causing dioxins and would be a step away from efforts by local authorities in Wales to increase recycling rates. We currently have some of the lowest levels in the UK."

"What is clear is that the Welsh Assembly Government believes that ultimately all Wales' electricity can be sourced from renewable energy sources and this calls into question the Plaid Cymru Leader, Iuean Wyn Jones, and Westminster Labour Party's support for the development of nuclear power in Wales and in particular on Anglesey."

"Wales Green Party will be submitting a formal response to the "route map" on renewable energy."

ENDS

Notes for editors

(1) www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/18/energy.economy

For further information (English or Welsh language) contact Leila Kiersch Wales Green Party Principal Speaker - 01974 261340/07817 83714 or Wales Green Party Press Officer Jake Griffiths on 07752754537 and cantongreens@hotmail.co.uk .

The report, Losing Ground, published by Friends of the Earth, Sawit Watch and LifeMosiac, highlights the social and environmental problems that often arrives in areas of the world allocated for growing biofuel crops.

'This report addresses the very critical issues surrounding the global rush to large-scale agrofuels. Indigenous communities around the world would eventually be threatened with severe food shortages since there will be no space left for subsistence farming. Furthermore, every litre of palm oil from a former rainforest does more damage to the environment than a litre of petrol. The benefit of producing biofuels is negligible compared to the havoc it wreaks.'

While agreeing with the findings of the report Leila Kiersch said that it is was important to differentiate the problems sourcing biodiesel from palm oil monoculture caused and identified in the report to the benefits gained from the work of small scale independent producers of biodiesel operating in South Wales that use waste vegetable oil collected from restaurants and food manufacturers as their fuel source.

The report's conclusion finds that

'The unsustainable expansion of Indonesia's palm oil industry is leaving many indigenous communities without land, water or adequate livelihoods. Previously self-sufficient communities find themselves in debt or struggling to afford education and food. Traditional customs and culture are being damaged alongside Indonesia's forests and wildlife.

'Human rights - including the right to water, to health, the right to work, cultural rights and the right to be protected from ill-treatment and arbitrary arrest - are being denied in some communities.

'If palm oil is to be produced sustainably, the damaging effects of unjust policies and practices in the Indonesian plantation sector must be addressed.'

Leila continued

'Local people need land as sources of sustainable economic activity, we all need the forests to absorb CO2 and indigenous species, like our cousins the orangutan, needs them simply to survive in. This is often a matter of life and death for the world's poorest people, and we must keep up the pressure to ensure that biofuels come from sustainable sources which don't damage people's lives or our climate.'

To read the summary of the report, go to www.foe.co.uk

For the whole report, please go to www.foe.co.uk

ENDS

Notes for editors

(1) www.indymedia.org.uk (2) www.telegraph.co.uk

For further information (English or Welsh language) contact Leila Kiersch Wales Green Party Principal Speaker - 01974 261340/07817 83714 or Wales Green Party Press Officer Jake Griffiths on 07752754537 and cantongreens@hotmail.co.uk .

He said: "Gordon Brown is guilty of the most staggering failure of political vision. The reason that Germany has 300 times as much solar power and 10 times as much wind power than the UK is simply because German politicians, led by the Greens, have had the political will to lead the way. And on energy efficiency, the government's own figures show there is the potential to save over 30% of all energy used in the UK solely through efficiency measures that would also save money overall.

"It simply isn't true that nuclear power is the answer to the so-called energy gap we face over the next 10 years, since the earliest that a new nuclear power station could come on stream is around 2017. And even if Britain built ten new reactors, it's been estimated that nuclear power can only deliver a 4 per cent cut in carbon emissions some time after 2025."

He added:

"I cannot condemn this strongly enough. The decision to allow new build nuclear power stations smacks of Government fudging - when they had the chance to send Britain down the carbon free road, they blew it.

"What the British people demand is cheap, clean and green energy - not an expensive, carbon emitting, dirty energy that does nothing the UK's energy insecurity that will leave a disgraceful legacy of nuclear waste for our children. Taxpayers will be picking up the bill for decades and the radioactive waste will be polluting Britain for millions of years.

"Nuclear energy will not begin to tackle the problems in the next decade - the most critical period for global warming action. It just provides a climate change fig-leaf for the Government to hide behind.

"It is neither carbon free, clean, safe or cost effctive - a strange decision from a Government besotted with free-market economics and profit driven industries.

"The existing nuclear programme cost £50 billion to build and produced 20% of our power in the UK. The whole of Europe could be run on wind power for that amount. (1)

"The Green Party promises a mammoth investment programme and full government support for a comprehensive programme of clean, sustainable energy.

"If the enormous and needless cost required by a new nuclear power programme were to be made available to energy efficiency measures, renewable energy technologies, community combined heat and power plants, and microgeneration, it would achieve greater long-term emissions reduction with total energy security, job creation and electricity that will stop the lights going out - without the nuclear drawbacks."

ENDS

Notes for editor

(1) www.ecotricity.co.uk