Ed Miliband hails clear vitality take care of Trump’s worst enemy Gavin Newsom – amid warnings Britain faces ‘BLACKOUTS’ except he drops Net Zero targets
Ed Miliband has ricked triggering the wrath of Donald Trump by signing a clean energy deal with his arch American enemy.
The Energy Secretary today signed an agreement with California‘s Democrat governor Gavin Newsom to deepen co-operation across clean energy, climate action and protecting nature.
The ‘memorandum of understanding’ (MOU) signed in London is the 12th that the UK has signed with US states, including Washington and Florida.
However, it sits separately from British efforts to find common ground on energy with Trump’s administration, which is very anti-clean power.
Mr Newsom has emerged as one of Trump’s most vocal Democrat critics who had taken increasingly to fighting fire with fire.
At the weekend he used a speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany to say the president will be ‘gone in three years’ and his wider investment in clean power will have impacts long after that.
However it comes at a time when Mr Miliband has been warned he might have to choose between UK energy blackouts or meeting his Net Zero 2030 goals.
A recent report by regulator Ofgem said there were significant delays in maintenance and upgrade of the UK’s power cables that meant ‘ significant challenges in meeting Clean Power 2030 ambitions while sustaining world-class reliability’.
The Energy Secretary today signed an agreement with California’s Democrat governor Gavin Newsom to deepen co-operation across clean energy, climate action and protecting nature.
However, it sits separately from British efforts to find common ground on energy with Trump’s administration, which is very anti-clean power.
Mr Newsom has emerged as one of Trump’s most vocal Democrat critics who had taken increasingly to fighting fire with fire.
At the weekend he used a speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany to say the president will be ‘gone in three years’ and his investment in clean power will have impacts long after that.
While acknowledging ‘open disagreements’ with the Trump administration on clean power, the UK Government has pushed nuclear energy as a key area of strategic agreement, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Trump signing a major nuclear power deal in September.
But Mr Trump has also repeatedly hit out at the UK’s green energy policies, describing wind energy as a ‘con’ and arguing the country should be exploiting the North Sea fossil fuel reserves.
The aim of the MOU is to boost transatlantic investment, strengthen collaborations between research institutions, support clean energy businesses to access the Californian market, and share expertise on protecting nature and building resilience to extreme weather.
The US federal government has rowed back on climate action and propped up fossil fuels, including revoking a scientific finding last week that legally underpinned US action to reduce planet-heating emissions and fight climate change.
But while Mr Trump has described climate change as a ‘hoax’, Mr Newsom has sought to expand state-level green policies in California and continued to engage in multilateral co-operation with other countries.
Mr Miliband said: ‘This Government’s clean energy mission is about taking back control of our energy to cut bills, create jobs, and tackle the climate crisis.
‘Strong international partnerships like today’s announcement with the State of California strengthens opportunities for UK businesses and secures investment for our country.’
Mr Newsom said: ‘California is the best place in America to invest in a clean economy because we set clear goals and we deliver.
‘Today, we deepened our partnership with the United Kingdom on climate action and welcomed nearly a billion dollars in clean tech investment from Octopus Energy.
‘California will continue showing the world how we can turn innovation and ambition into climate action.’
The UK Energy Department said the agreement will open up new export opportunities, boost skilled job opportunities across the UK and back British businesses to compete and grow, with companies such as Octopus Energy already expanding on the US west coast.
It is hoped this closer co-operation will ultimately help to cut bills, deliver energy security by reducing exposure to fossil fuel markets, safeguard the natural environment and protect homes, public services and local economies from the impacts of climate change.
