The Guardian Energy Correspondent, Jillian Ambrose, Visits Farnham
We were delighted to welcome Jillian Ambrose, the Guardian’s Energy Correspondent, to talk with us on energy, climate change and “Green vs Growth” at the University of the Creative Arts last Wednesday, chaired by our very own Theresa Meredith-Hardy. The university lecture hall was packed with over a hundred people coming to listen to the insights, as well as enjoy the raffle and the bar.
Theresa, inspired by a common experience of meeting people disengaged from politics, felt compelled to organise this event on behalf of the Waverley Liberal Democrats. As an avid campaigner, she knocks on hundreds of doors each week and she often feels disheartened when finding people who open the door and simply say they “don’t do politics”. Theresa wanted to show that if you live in a beautiful area like ours and value the environment, then that is politics. This event is the first of a range of things Theresa has planned to get us talking about the issues that matter.
Talking about these issues is vital for sparking action, and having these difficult conversations was the theme of the evening. The talk was followed by a live Q&A and debate among those present.
Jillian spoke passionately about how many public figures, across and outside the political spectrum, have avoided telling people the whole truth: that transitioning to renewable energy and net zero will be difficult and will have to involve compromises. We have often been told that the shiny new technological breakthrough (see Sustainable Aviation Fuels, for example) would be the ‘silver bullet’ that would solve the climate crisis without requiring us to put the effort in. For years we’ve seen governments write White Papers, commit to targets that get dropped, and talk extensively about the climate without being willing to take real action, fearful of the potential costs.
To be fair, part of the reasoning behind this lack of commitment might be because no one can predict the future, perhaps least of all politicians! Jillian, for example, gave us a great insight into how the recent Artificial Intelligence boom has sparked a surge in demand for energy-hungry data centres, a development that few could have predicted even half a decade ago.
She also stressed that green and growth do not have to be at “loggerheads”. Beyond the billions of pounds that are set aside to be invested in green industries, there is, for example, a growing acceptance of nuclear as a viable alternative (or at least a stop-gap) for the electricity production in this country. New homes too can be far more energy efficient than previous generations, as long as they are built with the correct infrastructure and energy standards.
The efforts to expand airports such as Farnborough, on the other hand, would be a huge step backwards, allowing and further encouraging one of the most wasteful and egregious forms of greenhouse gas emissions: private jets.
Jillian was keen to emphasise to us that there is still hope that this country’s economic growth and net zero ambitions can both succeed, however we need to work within the system, and accept that compromises need to be made. Most of all, she emphasised, we all need to have those difficult, grown-up conversations.
Jillian’s final comment in an extraordinarily insightful evening was on how we can not only spark these conversations, but also build on them to make a real difference.
What was her suggestion?
VOTE!
We would like to thank Jillian once again for her time and insights, and all our guests for their questions.