Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)

My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to debate these issues, and I echo what the noble Baroness and others have said about the tragedy in the North Sea. I cross the North Sea every year to visit my family in Denmark. When I was an MEP, we crossed the North Sea in a ferry after the “Estonia” tragedy to show solidarity. On the issue before us this evening, does the Minister share my concern that we should have a more balanced source of energy rather than what could appear to be a rapid dash for clean energy? We have seen, as the noble Earl said earlier, that BP as a single company is moving away from renewables back to its more traditional oil and other energy uses. There are also environmental issues related to clean energy, such as decommissioning wind turbines and siting substations to bring renewable energy onshore, and the fact that our competitors—the USA, Norway and other countries—are still relying on their oil and gas reserves. Should we not be looking for a more balanced view? I also echo what the noble Baroness said earlier. We had many debates during the passage of the clean energy Bill about the environmental issues. I particularly share her concern about fishermen and spatial squeeze—10% of fisheries grounds could be lost through clean energy. If the Minister could address these issues, I would be most grateful.