Over 100 postcards signed on Renewables
Day of Action
 It
was most appropriate that on a windy autumnal day, a small group from
Oxford
Friends of the Earth ventured into the city centre to help kick-off
Friends of
the Earth’s renewable energy revolution.
The
aim was to participate in FoE’s national Renewables Day of Action
(Saturday 25
October 2008) in order to engage the public in supporting a campaign to
put
pressure on the Government to back a strong EU Renewables Directive by
sticking
to its commitment of generating 15% our energy from renewable sources
by 2020,
and also to support a robust UK Renewables Strategy to help achieve
this
target.
At
present, the UK generates less than 2% of renewable energy. Compare
this to
other EU countries, such as Sweden, who currently generate a whopping
40% of
energy from renewable sources.
The
Oxford Day of Action was a success! On a busy Saturday afternoon with
Cornmarket St heaving with shoppers, we managed to get over 100 “Tide,
Wind,
Sun” postcards signed by the public at our stall. The postcards will be
sent to
local MPs in an effort to draw attention to the support for renewable
energy in
our communities.
 The
Government will be publishing its Renewables Strategy in March 2009,
detailing
how it will accomplish meeting the EU target of 15%. The 25 October Day
of
Action is a step in the right direction – showing the Government that
there is
support from the general public for renewable energy.
If
you haven’t done so already, please support the FoE Renewables campaign
at the FoE
website.
We need to keep the pressure on our MPs over the
coming months as the Government makes some critical decisions
concerning the
Renewables Directive. As FoE’s ‘Big Ask’ climate campaign demonstrated,
people
power really can make a difference!
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