Why I'm in favour of Sizewell C.

Minsmere is just about the best bird reserve in the country. Together with Westleton Heath and Dingle marshes it forms an area of outstanding wildlife. Not just the Bitterns, Marsh Harriers, Savi's Warblers, Dartford Warblers, but also Adders and Red Deer as well as so much else.

There are plans afoot to build a new nuclear power station between the current one at Sizewell B and the reserve. This will clearly impact on the wildlife of this rich and diverse area. Nor surprisingly, this has produced a lot of opposition. But I'm in favour. Here's why.

Firstly, climate change is real. As naturalists, we know this better than anyone. From the Ivy bees and Tree Bumble bees in our gardens to the three species of Egret I saw at Abberton today, our world is full of winged creatures moving north. My research indicated that, in as much as we can tell, this century will see continued warming and gradual change, but there may come a point when that gradual change breaks down and significant change, probably quite bad, occurs. And if the Clathrate Gun goes off, its Good Night Vienna.

As a civilisation we are making progress to slowing and then stopping warming. Globally, there are lots of reasons to be optimistic; As the standard of living goes up across the world, birth rates fall and the population is stabilising. Technology improvements mean significant reductions in CO2 emissions are possible. Every time we slow the increase in CO2 we give ourselves more time to develop better solutions. Climate Armageddon is not inevitable. We can solve this.

In the UK, we need to do our bit, and the most obvious target is electric vehicles. We are going to see a significant push in the next few years (I understand the EU is using 2020 as a baseline, so vehicle manufacturers have been avoiding pushing electric vehicles this year to get a low baseline and will push hard next year). But to make the most of the opportunity to reduce emissions, we need to charge these vehicles on carbon-free electricity, and the best way to do that is overnight. Given we don't have a viable means of storing electricity from variable renewable sources such as wind power or solar, it would seem we need a reliable source of instant overnight power and the best way of doing that currently is from nuclear power stations. 

Sizewell would seem to be a sensible place to build one given there is already one there. It could be the spur to improve the A12, it could help bring jobs and prosperity to the region.

And the wildlife? Well, according to my take on the plans, the plans leave much of the Minsmere/Westleton area intact. The area from the Eels foot at Eastbridge to Sizewell and Leiston may see a lot of activity, but the levels, the reserve, and the heath should be okay.

The RSPB and other are making a lot of noise, but my inner cynic wonders what the real aim is. Might it be to create a sense that wildlife compensation is required, that the 'loss' of the wildlife habitat should be recompensed by the expansion of local or other wildlife areas? Either locally around Walberswick and Westleton, or further afield? 

Reduction in CO2 emissions, cleaner environments, and an increase in wildlife areas in East Anglia? That would be win-win wouldn't it?