By . David Rose . PUBLISHED: . 20:21 EST, 16 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 20:23 EST, 16 March 2013 . Councils across the UK are spending millions and employing hundreds of ‘low carbon’ officers to fight global warming – which now appears not to pose an imminent threat – at the same time as making sweeping cuts to children’s  services, the arts and the elderly. The councils have increased their spending on salaries of climate change staff by 34 per cent since the 2008 crash, almost three times the rate of inflation, while grants from central government were slashed by 12 per cent. wind farm . Our investigation comes from data sought under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act. It shows: . Big spenders: As budgets are cut councils are still ploughing money into their green policies . Our FoI requests asked for details of jobs primarily related to climate change, sustainable development and cutting emissions. The roles are variously described as ‘undertaking climate change awareness projects’, ‘collecting climate change data for national records’ and ‘conducting research on climate change issues’. Middlesbrough’s ‘sustainable communities project officer’ offers a salary worth more than £21,000. It grandiosely claims the council has adopted the ‘One Planet model’ for its operations. Some climate change officers are working closely with other parts of the ‘green economy’. In Stoke, a spokesman said that when the energy company E.on fitted 567 homes with solar panels, this ‘did not cost the council anything’. Despite this boast, the cost to the public was significant, as the scheme is subsidised by taxes and levies on consumers’ energy bills. 'Green economy': Some councils have become preoccupied with spending on climate change prevention and cutting carbon footprints . Stoke City Council’s ‘green enterprise’ cabinet member, Andy Platt, said the authority had been ‘hailed as a pioneer in the sustainable energy field’ and added: ‘Our climate change strategy is not just about getting people to cut down on energy use, it is about creating our own renewable energy and is producing great returns on investment.’ But in 2011, a plan in Brighton to spend £2.6 million on solar panels and recoup the cost from subsidies was thrown into doubt when handouts were reduced. Other massive solar panel schemes have been launched in Bradford and Oxford. Some green activities appear oddly personal. In Peterborough, a video called Gillian’s Footprint explains how council chief executive Gillian Beasley is reducing her carbon footprint with measures such as switching off her computer. ... And the MPs and peers who benefit from green causes . Twenty MPs and  peers who help shape . ‘green’ legislation have personal interests in campaign groups and firms . which stand to benefit from such laws. The disclosure comes as MPs prepare . for a final debate on the Energy Bill, which seeks to bring in vast . subsidies for wind farms and is set to cost taxpayers and consumers . £110 billion. The two MPs who declared the biggest . personal benefits are Tim Yeo, the Tory chairman of  the Select . Committee on Energy and Climate Change, and his Labour Deputy, Barry . Gardiner. They are also behind a radical . amendment to the Bill that would impose a target of cutting carbon . dioxide emissions from electricity generation by 90 per cent by . 2030.Many observers believe this goal would lead to frequent power cuts. It would also shut off all investment in new, clean gas-fired power . stations and fracking for natural gas in the countryside. Here are the most high-profile of the MPs and peers benefiting from the green cause: . The MPs . Influential: Barry Sheerman is a Labour Associate of Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group . Tim Yeo . Influence: Tory chairman of the Energy and  Climate Change Select . Committee,  co-sponsor of Energy Bill amendment to impose 90 per cent . emission reduction from power generation by 2030. How he benefits: Director of three renewable energy and transport firms . which last year paid him £135,970 – double his MP’s salary. Barry Gardiner . Influence: Senior Labour member of the Energy and Climate Change Select  Committee, co-sponsor of Energy Bill. Benefits: Accepted travel and hospitality worth £29,432 from Globe, an . international group that campaigns for tough climate-change laws . worldwide. Barry Sheerman . Influence: Labour Associate of Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group. Benefits: Paid £5,000 for his services by  Veolia Environmental . Services, part of a  multinational with renewable energy interests. Graham Stuart . Influence: Member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Globe. Benefits: Accepted travel worth £5,226  from Globe. Laura Sandys . Influence: Parliamentary Private Secretary to Greg Barker, Minister for Energy and Climate Change. Benefits: Accepted travel worth £3,692 from Globe – which campaigns for . legislation in the field for which Barker is responsible. Ear of government: David Cameron, when he was leader of the opposition, talking to John Gummer MP, left, and editor of the Ecologist magazine, Zac Goldsmith, right . The peers . (Members of the Lords do not have to disclose the monetary value of their interests) Lord Deben . Influence: Chairman of Committee on  Climate Change, an influential . official  government advisory body on energy policy, carbon emissions . and targets. Interests: Chairman of Sancroft,  environmental lobbying company of . which two of his children are directors. Chairman of Veolia Water UK . PLC, which connects wind farms to national grid. Chairman of Globe. Baroness Maddock . Influence: Lib Dem Associate of  Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group. Personal interest: President of Micro Power Council, a lobby group run . by small energy firms which campaigns for a ‘mass market for . small-scale, low- and zero-carbon  electricity and heat-generating . technologies’. Lord Hunt of Chesterton . Influence: Member of All-Party Parliamentary Group for Globe. Interests: Director of Globe. Director of  Cambridge Environmental Research  Consultants Ltd. Lord MacLennan of Rogart . Influence: Member of EU subcommittee on agriculture, fisheries, environment and energy. Interests: Chairman of Firth Tidal Energy Ltd. Lord Oxburgh . Influence: Member of All-Party Parliamentary Group for Globe; led . inquiry which cleared University of East Anglia climate scientists of . wrongdoing after ‘Climategate’ emails leak. Interests: Professional advice given to Evo Electric Motors Ltd and . Climate Change  Capital Geothermal Engineering Ltd; director of Green . Energy Options Ltd; President of Carbon Capture and Storage Association. The implications of the inconvenient truth we publish today are profound. Since the Kyoto Treaty in 1997, Britain has been impoverishing itself in a lonely quest to cut its CO2 emissions – even though the world’s powerhouse economies, such as China and America, have refused to set any limits. It is clear that the science, supposedly ‘settled’, is deeply uncertain, while growing numbers of experts now say that the effects of greenhouse gases are much less bad than they feared: any warming is going to happen much more slowly than they thought a few years ago. It is time to join the dots.  The way is open to solving  this country’s most serious problems, all at once. The Chancellor, pondering next week’s Budget, knows the US is not only avoiding a triple-dip recession but is also expecting more than three per growth this year. This is thanks mainly to ‘fracking’ for the natural shale gas beneath its soil, which produces 37 per cent of the CO2 emitted by coal when generating cheap, clean electricity. In the US, once-moribund industries are being reborn, with jobs lost to China now returning home, while CO2 emissions are back to 1990 levels. Britain can follow this lead. We too have vast reserves of shale gas, as yet untapped. The time has come to scrap the Energy Bill, together with existing ‘renewable’ energy subsidies. It is now clear that we have decades to come up with the really serious low- carbon energy sources which may one day be needed. By abandoning wind, nuclear and other failed, risky or dubious ‘renewables’, and exploiting the benefits of shale gas, we can simultaneously boost our economy and shrink our national carbon footprint. It would be irresponsible to ignore such an opportunity.
Councils spend on a huge range of green jobs from Carbon Officers to Climate Change Managers while their grants are being cut .
Green staff spending has increased at three times rate of inflation .
Green salaries totalled £8.7 million in 2011 to 2012 at 65 councils, representing 17 million people – about one third of all councils. This sum does NOT include the cost of publicity materials urging people to cut their carbon footprints.
Spending on green salaries rose by  137 per cent in Stoke. In 2010, the council spent £137,000 on solar panels for its civic centre roof. It is now set to close it and build a new centre for more than £50m.
The highest-spending councils face deep cuts to core provisions. In Glasgow, where the green jobs spend of £390,000 is up 43 per cent on 2008 to 2009, the council is to cut £54 million from schools, social services and help for the disabled. In Birmingham, green salaries of £338,000 have risen 62 per cent, but £102 million is to be axed and 1,000 jobs lost.
In Bradford (where green salaries are up from zero to £289,000), the council has issued a 25-page booklet claiming locals face an influx of foreign migrants displaced by sea level rises and drought.
Not all councils are burning money on climate change. In 17 areas, green salaries have been reduced. The biggest cut was in Colchester which will now do without any climate change officers, having spent £23,000 in 2008 to 2009.
The hiring binge was sparked by the 2008 Climate Change Act. It demands a cut in CO2 emissions in the UK by 80 per cent by 2050. It was followed by the Low Carbon Industrial Strategy, putting the onus on councils.
By . David Rose . PUBLISHED: . 20:21 EST, 16 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 20:23 EST, 16 March 2013 . Councils across the UK are spending millions and employing hundreds of ‘low carbon’ officers to fight global warming – which now appears not to pose an imminent threat – at the same time as making sweeping cuts to children’s  services, the arts and the elderly. The councils have increased their spending on salaries of climate change staff by 34 per cent since the 2008 crash, almost three times the rate of inflation, while grants from central government were slashed by 12 per cent. wind farm . Our investigation comes from data sought under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act. It shows: . Big spenders: As budgets are cut councils are still ploughing money into their green policies . Our FoI requests asked for details of jobs primarily related to climate change, sustainable development and cutting emissions. The roles are variously described as ‘undertaking climate change awareness projects’, ‘collecting climate change data for national records’ and ‘conducting research on climate change issues’. Middlesbrough’s ‘sustainable communities project officer’ offers a salary worth more than £21,000. It grandiosely claims the council has adopted the ‘One Planet model’ for its operations. Some climate change officers are working closely with other parts of the ‘green economy’. In Stoke, a spokesman said that when the energy company E.on fitted 567 homes with solar panels, this ‘did not cost the council anything’. Despite this boast, the cost to the public was significant, as the scheme is subsidised by taxes and levies on consumers’ energy bills. 'Green economy': Some councils have become preoccupied with spending on climate change prevention and cutting carbon footprints . Stoke City Council’s ‘green enterprise’ cabinet member, Andy Platt, said the authority had been ‘hailed as a pioneer in the sustainable energy field’ and added: ‘Our climate change strategy is not just about getting people to cut down on energy use, it is about creating our own renewable energy and is producing great returns on investment.’ But in 2011, a plan in Brighton to spend £2.6 million on solar panels and recoup the cost from subsidies was thrown into doubt when handouts were reduced. Other massive solar panel schemes have been launched in Bradford and Oxford. Some green activities appear oddly personal. In Peterborough, a video called Gillian’s Footprint explains how council chief executive Gillian Beasley is reducing her carbon footprint with measures such as switching off her computer. ... And the MPs and peers who benefit from green causes . Twenty MPs and  peers who help shape . ‘green’ legislation have personal interests in campaign groups and firms . which stand to benefit from such laws. The disclosure comes as MPs prepare . for a final debate on the Energy Bill, which seeks to bring in vast . subsidies for wind farms and is set to cost taxpayers and consumers . £110 billion. The two MPs who declared the biggest . personal benefits are Tim Yeo, the Tory chairman of  the Select . Committee on Energy and Climate Change, and his Labour Deputy, Barry . Gardiner. They are also behind a radical . amendment to the Bill that would impose a target of cutting carbon . dioxide emissions from electricity generation by 90 per cent by . 2030.Many observers believe this goal would lead to frequent power cuts. It would also shut off all investment in new, clean gas-fired power . stations and fracking for natural gas in the countryside. Here are the most high-profile of the MPs and peers benefiting from the green cause: . The MPs . Influential: Barry Sheerman is a Labour Associate of Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group . Tim Yeo . Influence: Tory chairman of the Energy and  Climate Change Select . Committee,  co-sponsor of Energy Bill amendment to impose 90 per cent . emission reduction from power generation by 2030. How he benefits: Director of three renewable energy and transport firms . which last year paid him £135,970 – double his MP’s salary. Barry Gardiner . Influence: Senior Labour member of the Energy and Climate Change Select  Committee, co-sponsor of Energy Bill. Benefits: Accepted travel and hospitality worth £29,432 from Globe, an . international group that campaigns for tough climate-change laws . worldwide. Barry Sheerman . Influence: Labour Associate of Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group. Benefits: Paid £5,000 for his services by  Veolia Environmental . Services, part of a multinational with renewable energy interests. Graham Stuart . Influence: Member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Globe. Benefits: Accepted travel worth £5,226  from Globe. Laura Sandys . Influence: Parliamentary Private Secretary to Greg Barker, Minister for Energy and Climate Change. Benefits: Accepted travel worth £3,692 from Globe – which campaigns for . legislation in the field for which Barker is responsible. Ear of government: David Cameron, when he was leader of the opposition, talking to John Gummer MP, left, and editor of the Ecologist magazine, Zac Goldsmith, right . The peers . (Members of the Lords do not have to disclose the monetary value of their interests) Lord Deben . Influence: Chairman of Committee on  Climate Change, an influential . official  government advisory body on energy policy, carbon emissions . and targets. Interests: Chairman of Sancroft, environmental lobbying company of . which two of his children are directors. Chairman of Veolia Water UK . PLC, which connects wind farms to national grid. Chairman of Globe. Baroness Maddock . Influence: Lib Dem Associate of Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group. Personal interest: President of Micro Power Council, a lobby group run . by small energy firms which campaigns for a ‘mass market for . small-scale, low- and zero-carbon electricity and heat-generating . technologies’. Lord Hunt of Chesterton . Influence: Member of All-Party Parliamentary Group for Globe. Interests: Director of Globe. Director of Cambridge Environmental Research  Consultants Ltd. Lord MacLennan of Rogart . Influence: Member of EU subcommittee on agriculture, fisheries, environment and energy. Interests: Chairman of Firth Tidal Energy Ltd. Lord Oxburgh . Influence: Member of All-Party Parliamentary Group for Globe; led . inquiry which cleared University of East Anglia climate scientists of . wrongdoing after ‘Climategate’ emails leak. Interests: Professional advice given to Evo Electric Motors Ltd and . Climate Change  Capital Geothermal Engineering Ltd; director of Green . Energy Options Ltd; President of Carbon Capture and Storage Association. The implications of the inconvenient truth we publish today are profound. Since the Kyoto Treaty in 1997, Britain has been impoverishing itself in a lonely quest to cut its CO2 emissions – even though the world’s powerhouse economies, such as China and America, have refused to set any limits. It is clear that the science, supposedly ‘settled’, is deeply uncertain, while growing numbers of experts now say that the effects of greenhouse gases are much less bad than they feared: any warming is going to happen much more slowly than they thought a few years ago. It is time to join the dots.  The way is open to solving  this country’s most serious problems, all at once. The Chancellor, pondering next week’s Budget, knows the US is not only avoiding a triple-dip recession but is also expecting more than three per growth this year. This is thanks mainly to ‘fracking’ for the natural shale gas beneath its soil, which produces 37 per cent of the CO2 emitted by coal when generating cheap, clean electricity. In the US, once-moribund industries are being reborn, with jobs lost to China now returning home, while CO2 emissions are back to 1990 levels. Britain can follow this lead. We too have vast reserves of shale gas, as yet untapped. The time has come to scrap the Energy Bill, together with existing ‘renewable’ energy subsidies. It is now clear that we have decades to come up with the really serious low- carbon energy sources which may one day be needed. By abandoning wind, nuclear and other failed, risky or dubious ‘renewables’, and exploiting the benefits of shale gas, we can simultaneously boost our economy and shrink our national carbon footprint. It would be irresponsible to ignore such an opportunity.
Councils across the UK are spending millions and making sweeping cuts to children’s  services, the arts and the elderly. The councils have increased their spending on salaries of climate change staff by 34 per cent since the 2008 crash, almost three times the rate of inflation, while grants are cut councils are still ploughing money into worth more than £21,000. It grandiosely claims the council has adopted the ‘One Planet model’ for its operations. Some climate change officers ‘green economy’. In Stoke, a spokesman said that energy bills. 'Green economy': Some councils have become preoccupied with spending on climate change prevention and cutting carbon footprints . not just about getting people to cut down on on investment.’ But in 2011, a plan in Brighton to spend £2.6 million on solar panels and recoup the cost from subsidies was thrown into doubt panel schemes have been launched in Bradford and help shape . ‘green’ legislation have personal and Climate Change Select  Committee, co-sponsor for . legislation in the field for which Barker CO2 emissions – even though the world’s have refused to set any limits. It is clear that serious problems, all at once. The Chancellor, This is thanks mainly to ‘fracking’ for the US, once-moribund industries are being reborn, with jobs lost to China now returning home, while ‘renewable’ energy subsidies. It is now clear