We need a U-turn on energy policy, Andy Burnham says as he sets out £65bn vision

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Andy Burnham has called for a U-turn on the government's energy policy as he set out a £65bn vision for Greater Manchester to become net zero by 2038. The mayor has written to the new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt asking him to back the city-region's costly plans which will 're-industrialise' the North of England.

He announced a new taskforce which will explore opportunities to harness wind, solar and tidal power in Greater Mancheser and Liverpool City Region. It came as the Chancellor announced a series of U-turns yesterday (October 17), including scaling back the Energy Price Guarantee from April next year.

But the Greater Manchester mayor called for a U-turn on 'backward-looking' energy policies such as reopening fracking and restricting new solar farms. Speaking at the fifth annual Green Summit in Salford, Mr Burnham said he wants more 'community-owned' energy production in Greater Manchester.

READ MORE: Andy Burnham will not 'punish people to net zero' despite stark climate warning

Without that such measures, he warned, the city-region will not meet its target of being carbon neutral by 2038, affecting the UK's 2050 target too. He said: "We do need U-turns on policy.

"But we also need a government that fully buys in to the 2038 vision because the UK will not get to 2050 unless places like Greater Manchester are freed up to go faster – and we're ready to go faster."

Greater Manchester has already mapped out the state of the current energy network and identified what needs to be done to decarbonise it by 2038. Working in collaboration with Co-operatives UK and Climate Outreach, the taskforce will explore whether energy from wind, the sun, waves - and even grass - could be harvested to power the equivalent of both city