The UK says at an energy summit that green power will boost security, as
the US differs
[April 24, 2025] By
JILL LAWLESS
LONDON (AP) — Britain announced a major investment in wind power
Thursday as it hosted an international summit on energy security — with
Europe and the United States at odds over whether to cut their reliance
on fossil fuels.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government will invest 300
million pounds ($400 million) in boosting Britain’s capacity to
manufacture components for the offshore wind industry, a move it hopes
will encourage private investment in the U.K.’s renewable energy sector.
Surging energy prices and the Russia-Ukraine war have made European
leaders think hard about global energy security an their reliance on
Russian natural gas. Ukraine halted Russian gas supplies to European
customers through its pipeline network in January.
“As long as energy can be weaponized against us, our countries and our
citizens are vulnerable and exposed,” U.K. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband
told delegates.
He said “low-carbon power” was a route to energy security as well as a
way to slow climate change.
Britain now gets more than half its electricity from renewable sources
such as wind and solar power, and the rest from natural gas and nuclear
energy. It aims to generate all the U.K.’s energy from renewable sources
by 2030.
The last U.K. coal-fired power plant closed last year, ending 142 years
of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial
Revolution.
Other European nations including Germany and France have committed to
more wind energy production, and some are also phasing out coal.
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Britain's Secretary for Energy Security Ed Miliband looks on as
Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA)
speaks on day one of the International Summit on the Future of
Energy Security at Lancaster House in London, Thursday April 24,
2025. (Justin Tallis/Pool via AP)
 The Trump administration is doing
the opposite — prioritizing fossil fuels, including boosting coal,
canceling financing for clean energy and climate-friendly projects,
and targeting the wind industry.
Tommy Joyce, U.S. acting assistant secretary of energy for
international affairs, told participants they should be “honest
about the world’s growing energy needs, not focused on net-zero
politics.”
He called policies that push for clean power over fossil fuels
"harmful and dangerous," and claimed building wind turbines requires
"concessions to or coercion from China" because it supplies
necessary rare minerals.
Hosted by the British government and the International Energy
Agency, the two-day summit brings together government ministers from
60 countries, senior European Union officials, energy sector CEOs,
heads of international organizations and nonprofits to assess risks
to the global energy system and figure out solutions.
___
Associated Press writer Jennifer McDermott contributed to this
story.
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