More haste, less speed
The British Government has been forced by a legal ruling to re-do its energy review. The High Court has ruled that the Government did not undertake adequate public consultation in its rush to complete its Energy Review Report in the summer of 2006. The court ruling followed an appeal by Greenpeace.
“Ruling on a legal challenge by the Greenpeace environmental group, Mr Justice Sullivan said the original consultation the government did before deciding to back replacing Britain’s ageing nuclear capacity had been “misleading”, “seriously flawed” and “procedurally unfair”.
The judge said it contained no information of any substance on two critical issues: the economics of building new nuclear plants and the disposal of waste. All the information of any substance on those issues only emerged after the consultation period had concluded.”
In a democracy it is not enough for a government to have sensible or correct policies. Governments also need to win public acceptance for their policies. The current British Government has been in office almost ten years, and has won three election victories in a row. You would think they would know how to get such public consultation processes right by now? Or were they so desparate to get the outcome they wanted from the Energy Review that they ignored due process?
We agree with the leader-writer of the FT who says:
“Carbon-free nuclear-generated electricity remains an important way of mitigating climate change. The case for energy-saving and greater emphasis on renewables is strong, but they alone will not be enough to meet Britain’s energy needs when the current ageing generation of reactors is phased out. Continuing access to nuclear power also plays a part in the diversity that contributes to energy security.
It is clear that the government still has not carried public opinion on these points. It is vital that it does so. Reactor-building democracies, from France to the United States, have to give a strong lead in explaining the arguments in favour of nuclear power and in addressing health and safety concerns, including the disposal of waste.
The new generation of nuclear reactors will be the first in Britain to be built and operated by the private sector. To rise to this challenge companies and their banks will need to be confident there is public acceptance and some political certainty. In its handling of the hurried consultation, the government has made that harder to achieve.”