If you’re of an organsiation that might sign a letter to George Osborne about renewables funding, then read on. If you’re not, move along, nothing to see here…

Dear fellow Northern colleagues

Green Alliance is convening a declaration from groups across the north of England, calling for clean energy to power the region. It would be great to get as many organisations from across the north to get behind and sign the declaration.

As you know, this is a challenging time for low carbon energy. Subsidies have been cut and there’s a great deal of uncertainty about the future of the industry. At the same time, the North has been a focus of the Chancellor’s attention, with the much talked about ‘Northern Powerhouse’ idea. But it’s unclear so far what this term really stands for, and there’s been barely any mention of clean energy or the environment.

Community Energy England wants to support Green Alliance to connect these two circumstances together to create a political moment before the March Budget. There’s a window of opportunity this year to shape the meaning of the Northern Powerhouse in a positive way, with clean energy and the wishes of northern people at its core.

The declaration will bring together a mix of groups from across northern England, to ask the Chancellor to respond to our call for clean energy to power the north. See text attached. We plan to launch it publicly on 12^th/13^th March, the weekend before the Budget.

Anyone who want to be a signatory just needs to send their organisation name and logo to Amy Mount,AMount@green-alliance.org.uk by 9th March. You can also contact her with any questions. Apologies for any cross-posting.

And here is what you’d be signing up to.

We want clean energy to power the North

The North of England was the cradle of the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century, and the heart of British industry in the twentieth. Today, we want the northern economy to play a leading role in the biggest transformation of the world’s infrastructure since the switch from wood to coal power.

The world is rising to the challenge of climate change, which means using new ways to meet our travel, energy, and communication needs. Now, after a winter of floods, we know this change can’t be delayed, and that new infrastructure has to be futureproof. Representing diverse organisations from across the north, we want clean energy to power our future.

The North is already designing, building and exporting the new low carbon products and services that the whole world wants and has committed to buy, from wind turbines to electric vehicles. Renewable energy, efficient homes and workplaces, and smart technologies will all support local jobs and businesses. And they enable communities to shape their own energy futures, as towns and villages across the North have done since Baywind in Cumbria, which was the UK’s first ever renewable energy co-operative.

The future we want is one with clean air, healthy people and resilient communities. We want to protect our astonishing landscapes, like Lindisfarne in the east and the Ainsdale Dunes in the west, from the devastating impacts of climate change.

To make this vision real, the 2016 Budget must enable us to develop and grow renewables for our region into the 2020s. The UK government should be celebrating clean energy as core to its economic plan. To cherish what we love about our region and reassert our place in the forefront of the world’s economy, we ask the Chancellor to back clean energy for the North.