Colin Hines, Convener of the Green New Deal Group, has urged for a focus on drastically and rapidly cutting fossil fuel use. He suggests this can be achieved through a devolved energy programme that reduces bills and generates secure jobs.
A key component of this approach, according to Hines, must be a public commitment to rapidly "get off gas." This involves prioritising a swift nationwide programme to increase the installation of heat and cooling pumps in all properties and enhance building energy efficiency.
Hines proposes that an immediate source of labour for such a programme could come from workers made redundant due to a policy to cut energy bills by dropping investment in energy saving. Andrew Warren, chair of the British Energy Efficiency Federation, has stated that 12,100 skilled professionals have already been made redundant, with an estimated further 80,000 expected in the next 12 months.