Letter to the times- urgent

[The Solar King]

Recieved this e-mail. Please follow instructions and e-mail Howard whether you are a member of the STA or not:

Please send e-mail to [email protected]


Dear All, As part of the campaign to protect the feed in tariff and try to push back the date for the changes come into effect a group of us have come together to run a campaign called "Cut don't kill". We are hoping that the letter below will be published in the Times on Monday morning - and that your name will be at the bottom of it. We already have 50 companies signed up and I hope we will have 150 by the time it is submitted on Sunday morning.

It needs to be signed by all CEOs / MDs of solar companies and they must their details to me by Saturday 10pm for inclusion: Their Name, Job Title and Company name. Please address the emails with the title: Letter to the times.

Please feel free to circulate the letter below to all your contacts however, if you could all collate your contacts responses into one email that would be a great help to me as my email has gone out to the entire STA list on this already! We need help with funding for the www.oursolarfuture.org.uk cut don't kill campaign - it is really gathering pace and starting to have an impact. There are quite a number of companies funding it already (most have contributed £3K) and we really need another ten to chip in also to continue keeping the pressure up - if you want more info on what the campaign team have been up to please come back to me. It essential we keep hitting the PR and PA activity on this hard in the coming weeks or we will be facing further cuts and more struggle in the coming months and years - so please dig in and contribute in whatever way you can.

Apologies if you have had this and replied already

Thanks and all the best

Howard Johns

Letter as follows:

Sir – The Government’s proposal for a cut of more than 50% to Feed-in Tariffs would destroy the UK solar industry - one of the brightest hopes for green growth in the British economy. The Tariff has been very successful in the past 18 months, helping the industry grow to 4,000 companies employing 25,000 people.

The support it provides was always intended to taper away as the cost of technology falls, and we accept the need for some cuts to take place. But a cut on this scale would kill the solar sector outright. Britain has thrown away thriving renewables industries in the past – for what was meant to be “the greenest Government ever” to repeat that mistake would be a national disgrace. This is a skilled industry with huge economic potential, a large workforce and a crucial part to play in meeting the UK’s emissions targets. Killing it off would be short-sighted and irresponsible in the extreme.

What’s more, our industry has been given just five weeks’ notice to prepare for this savage cut.

We call on the Prime Minister to honour his commitment to being green and getting Britain growing again.

Cut the tariff, but don’t cut it so deeply that it kills our industry.

 

[flamefix]

I think the letter is a bit weak, we should be suggesting what the cuts should be and how they are cut. It should be realistic cuts but not, nonsensical ones and to leave it up to government to decide will gives us more of the same as we have had. I posted a poll back in August knowing this was coming but hoping it would still be April. Clearly some delusional thinking at 10% cut as sufficient..
http://www.electriciansforums.net/p...-fit-reduction-april-2012-poll-what-fair.html

Perhaps we should run another A poll on what cut and whether it should be the same cut across the domestic and free/ large scale systems..

 

[The Solar King]

What ever you may think, however angry you are (you'll have to be going some to catch up with me) doesn't make any difference. This is about action not thought.

Be assured whatever the text of the letter says has been carefully constructed and thought out with its target audience in mind.

Please, just e-mail and support us on this.

 

[solarsavings]

email sent.

 

[flamefix]

yeah right. Unless you give a position to argue from all you're are doing is pleading for them not to cut so much, and implying we don't know or understand how much it should be cut by.
Make a case, support it and argue for it I'll sign it. The governement have laid out why the cut is 50% it's up to us to say what it should be and argue for it not beg for less. I won't sign a begging letter.
Howard johns and the STA have access to the facts and should be writing a much more forceful argument otherwise they aren't representing us professionally.

 

[SRE]

I for one am running round like a headless chicken and haven't got the time to either argue or come up with a suitable alternative to open for debate - we just don't have time and on our own we're lone voices.

Email sent and copied on to colleagues who don't see the forum for them to respond too.

 

[northernsun]

Email Sent.

 

[The Solar King]

@flamefix
If that's how you feel fine.
Please re-read the second line of my second post.
Regards

 

[flamefix]

I for one am running round like a headless chicken and haven't got the time to either argue or come up with a suitable alternative to open for debate - we just don't have time and on our own we're lone voices.

Which is why those at the STA and others representing the industry should be coming up with something much more substantial to argue the case with. A few hundred letters saying please don't cut so much is not as powerful as one that presents a case for a cut, and substantiates it. And I for one expect better, that letter a school kid could have written it's hardly a basis for a fight back and whilst numbers sent will show depth of feeling it does little to present our case for an alternative. And whilst I don't expect us to write it, there are those that could and should. And no matter how busy we are, if this is a future we want to protect we'll have to do more and expect more from our representatives. That way we wouldn't be lone voices, and a whole group of lone voices a chorus makes.

 

[Scooby]

Jesus, people - 'sign' the bludy letter and send it. What's the harm?

I know how you feel, but any communication needs to be un-emotive, simple and clear especially when sent to a newspaper. Any belligerence is self-defeating just as with an argument with a neighbour - once you start shouting or cussing, you've lost.

As far as I can see the one above states "The Government’s proposal for a cut of more than 50% to Feed-in Tariffs would destroy the UK solar industry", "...a cut on this scale would kill the solar sector outright" and "...our industry has been given just five weeks’ notice to prepare for this savage cut." Strikes me as being the key points of the situation - you can ramble on with sums and figures, but no-one will read it.

I may be wrong, but - hey - unless you are doing your own thing, why not add and send?

 

[solarsavings]

We shouldn't be arguing between ourselves but against the machine.

 

[Scooby]

*cough* Good point.

(stands shamefully in the corner, eyes downcast...)

 

[flamefix]

Oh I think a bit of constructive argumentation is not fighting amongst ourselves but discussing the subject, its not personal from my viewpoint. It's perfectly clear that I am totally against the cuts and I have details why for those of you that haven't read what my views are can search for posts under my name. Yes there are some points raised but where's the position that we are agreed on, what cut is acceptable and why, it's the cut the government is interested in, not me not you and not the client that is patently the position. So unless we fight back with an alternative cut and support that with figures both financial and impact on jobs and lively hoods they are if they even listen going to simply pick another random number over which we have had no say.

I do expect more from industry and organisations, and it's our money that funds them and I expect better much better. others are free to disagree, that's democracy.

 

[solarsavings]

flamefix I really appreciate your efforts on our behalf, I wish I could express my thoughts as articulately. I don't have the time to fight our corner and have to leave it to those that can. I don't care how they do it, or the words they use, I'm just grateful to all for not rolling over and taking it where it hurts without a fight.

 

[The Solar King]

Thank you to everyone who responded positively to this request.
Keep the faith and keep bothering your MP, MEP, MSP, your local paper, anything. There are some great posts in other threads!
Regards