What is the problem?
Soaring energy demand is causing climate change. Photo: Morgue File
Climate change: a threat to the countryside
Climate change is a huge threat to the English countryside because, within a few decades, it is likely to alter many of our most typical and cherished landscapes forever – unless global emissions are drastically reduced.
Hotter, drier summers, wetter winters, storms and high winds will threaten many of our landscapes and habitats. Some familiar trees, wild flowers and animals which are characteristic of our countryside may no longer be able to survive in a much warmer England.
As sea levels rise, large areas of coastland habitat may be flooded. Very dramatic changes are likely, especially in the East of England, with the loss of fens, beaches and entire villages. 
Soaring energy demand
Climate change is mainly a consequence of soaring energy demand but it is not the only consequence of this. For decades, the beauty, diversity and tranquillity of our countryside has been under threat from the things associated with our ever growing energy consumption – roads and traffic, airport and aviation growth, built development of all kinds marching across the countryside, huge new power stations and high voltage electricity pylons.
The Government’s response to climate change in national policies, including planning, has not been consistent. It has proposed some new planning policies championed by CPRE, for example making urban development more compact and reducing car dependency. At the same time, it has proposed policy changes which raise the stakes for the countryside. This is because they seek to weaken landscape protection radically in favour of renewable energy schemes such as wind turbines. These have a major impact on landscapes and bring with them more pylons and overhead electricity wires to carry power across the country.
CPRE has supported the principle of increasing the generation of renewable energy from the wind, the sun and the sea to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. However, we believe that the Government has placed too much emphasis on electricity generated by onshore wind turbines and not enough on the potential of energy from renewable sources such as the sun, forestry coppice, and native energy crops. 
Diversifying our energy sources and using less energy
We believe that a shift to diversifying our energy sources to include more renewables, decentralising electricity generation, using combined heat and power and – above all else – using energy less wastefully – offers huge potential for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. But this shift requires sensitive management to reduce its negative impacts on the landscape and the tranquillity of the countryside.
