Lazy, short-sighted and irresponsible

When I first saw this headline under "environmental guardian" I wondered whether this was really from the "education" part of the paper that had somehow got misplaced. Alas, it really was all about UK targets that has again upset one green group or another.

Lazy, short-sighted and irresponsible [Guardian]

A leaked government memo to British MEPs about how the UK plans to reach the EU's ambitious target of increasing its use of renewables in energy consumption tenfold to 15% by 2020 from the current 1.5% has provoked anger and disbelief among green campaigners.

"Lazy, short-sighted and irresponsible," is how Caroline Lucas, Green MEP, describes it.

The memo recommits Britain to its target (part of an overall EU one of 20%) but is shot through with references to "cost-efficiency" (seven) and "flexibility" (14) - and demands more of both, with officials refusing to say what that means. It suggests that ministers plan to trade their way to the target, importing renewable energy from elsewhere in the EU - Romania perhaps - and even outside Europe.