Clegg speech in Rotherham on economic growth

Clegg speech in Rotherham on economic growth; Nick Clegg speech continued SOT These, then, are the four big steps we need to make towards a new economy – moving from debt to investment; building our hard infrastructure; cultivating skills and knowledge; and ensuring regional and sectoral balance. I would now like to say something specific about Carbon Capture and Storage. CCS will play an enormously important part in the new, rebalanced economy. It is an industry of the future; taking the best of British talents in manufacturing, engineering and research; using our natural resources; and spreading growth – green, sustainable growth – across all corners of the UK. As explained in this report, the Coalition Government has committed to four commercial-scale projects. In the Spending Review we allocated 1bn pounds in capital expenditure to the first demonstration project – the largest such commitment to a single project anywhere in the world – despite the immense strain on the public purse. Because the Coalition Government understands that if we invest in CCS now, if we get this right, we can create export opportunities of up to 6.5bn pounds a year by 2030. We could create and sustain up to 100,000 new, high skilled jobs. And, at the same time, we can massively cut our carbon emissions. And, make no mistake, this isn’t simply well-meaning environmentalism. This is hard-headed economics. We know that, without CCS, halving global emissions by 2050 will be 70% more expensive. So gone are the days of government that pins the nation’s hopes on risk-taking in our City banks. We are determined to get behind new industries, in new places, to deliver lasting growth. The people in this room are crucial to that and we look forward to working with you to make it happen. So we need an economy that is sustainable – environmentally sustainable, of course, but economically sustainable too. An economy built on investment, not debt; on world-class i...