Get Newcastle off the grid!

Socialist Alliance candidate for Lord Mayor Zane Alcorn, and fellow Ward Three candidates Laura Ealing and Thomas Cameron have issued a challenge to current Lord Mayor John Tate to get his head out of the sand. They are advocating the implementation of a radical scheme to cut Newcastle’s carbon emissions and take the city completely off the power grid.

At a recent candidates’ forum organised by the Newcastle Alliance, Alcorn argued that Arctic sea ice is likely to melt by 2013, and that council can’t afford to ignore climate change. But Tate responded by denying this is an issue for council, arguing that the onus is on individuals to make changes at a household level.

Socialist Alliance candidates are using the example of Woking, a council area the UK, which has become energy self-sufficient and has made massive cuts to greenhouse emissions.

“Woking has reduced its carbon emissions by 77% since 1990. There’s no reason why Newcastle council can’t do the same thing here,” Alcorn said.

“We can cut Newcastle’s emissions dramatically and become energy self-sufficient by utilising solar and wind power and supplementing this with combined heat and power plants (CHPs). About 70% of the energy from coal-fired power stations is lost in heat or transmission. CHPs are highly efficient, decentralised power plants make use of this usually wasted energy to heat or cool buildings,” says Alcorn.

“It sounds ambitious but Woking shows what’s possible in practice if the political will exists. We can either take this sort of initiative to safeguard the future of our planet, or we can sit back and watch passively as things disintegrate,” warned Cameron. Cameron noted that London council also plans to cut its emissions by 60% over the next 20 years.

Claims that council cannot afford to implement the proposal will not wash with the candidates either. Ealing stresses that “If anything the transition that Woking has made has strengthened their local economy - Woking council has reduced its annual energy bills by almost a million pounds, and the energy bills for council residents are lower too.

“Newcastle council can afford to do this, and what’s more, it can’t afford not to. Climate change is happening at a speed that no one predicted, and anyone who tries to claim that it’s not their responsibility is simply unfit for leadership”.

For interviews contact:
Zane Alcorn 0401 466 831
Laura Ealing 0406 793 716
Thomas Cameron 0431 522 086