Lib Dem leadership hits back as Tory MPs declare war on wind farms

The long-running battle for the future direction of the UK's green economic policy has broken into the open, after Tory backbenchers launched an assault on the coalition's renewable energy subsidies and the Lib Dem leadership responded with an impassioned defence of the government's environmental agenda.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and newly-appointed Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey will today reiterate the Lib Dem's support for green policies in the wake of Chris Huhne's resignation as Energy and Climate Change Secretary.

In an attempt to end speculation that Huhne's departure will herald a major shift in the coalition's approach to the green economy, Clegg and Davey will today visit the Building Research Establishment's Innovation Park near Watford to highlight growing demand for green construction jobs.

Clegg is expected to underline the coalition's commitment to stimulating green growth, arguing that it is in the UK's interests to ensure the economic recovery is based around clean industries.

"Last year we saw record-breaking global investment in renewables – outstripping the cash piled into fossil fuels," he will say. "The new economic powerhouses – China, India, Korea, Brazil – are now serious contenders for that capital.

"So the choice for the UK is simple: wake up, or end up playing catch up. In today's world the savviest states understand that going for growth means going green. Low-carbon markets are the next frontier in the battle for global pre-eminence."

In a thinly veiled reference to Conservative attacks on wind farms, Clegg will also draw attention to the UK's "enviable wind, wave and tidal power", arguing that the country's history of engineering gives it a "clear competitive edge" in emerging clean technologies.

Davey, who is being described by Lib Dems as a long-standing environmental campaigner, will also set out his support for a green economic recovery, arguing that he has long believed in "the need to marry our economic and environmental agendas".

"Greening the economy isn't just good for the planet – it's good for the wallets, purses and pockets of every British citizen too," he will say.

"By focusing on the low carbon industries of the future we can rebalance our economy, reducing our dependence on the City of London on the one hand, and on oil and gas imports from unstable parts of the world on the other."

He will also reiterate that there is unlikely to be any major substantive change to the policies being pursued by Huhne before his resignation.

"My priorities are very simple," he will say. "Green jobs, green growth and getting the best deal for energy bill payers. My department is already implementing bold and ambitious reforms – like electricity market reform and the Green Deal – to unlock private investment, drive innovation and build a resilient, green, competitive economy. It's now my job to see those through.

"There may have been a change at the helm, but there'll be no change in direction or ambition."

However, Davey's promotion comes as pressure continues to mount on Conservative ministers to ditch key elements of the government's green agenda.

According to Sunday Telegraph reports, 101 Conservative backbenchers wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron last week demanding that subsidies for "inefficient" onshore wind farms are "dramatically cut".

The letter, which is supported by former ministers such as David Davies, party grandees such as Nicholas Soames, and a number of hotly-tipped younger MPs, demands that subsidies for wind energy be slashed and the focus of the government's renewable energy policies shifted in favour of more "reliable" energy sources.

"In these financially straitened times, we think it is unwise to make consumers pay, through taxpayer subsidy, for inefficient and intermittent energy production that typifies onshore wind turbines," the letter states, adding that the government should change the proposed National Planning Policy Framework to make it easier for local communities to oppose wind farms.

The group of MPs also signalled that they command support from a number of ministers who are unable to publicly state their concerns.

A Downing Street spokesman reiterated the government's commitment to renewable energy and stressed that moves were already being taken to reduce the level of subsidy available for onshore wind farms.

"We need a low carbon infrastructure and onshore wind is a cost-effective and valuable part of the diverse energy mix," he said. "The government has commissioned a review of subsidy levels and we are proposing a cut for onshore wind subsidies to take into account the fact that costs are coming down."

However, the letter represents one of the biggest challenges to date of Cameron's authority and will crank up pressure on Downing Street and the Treasury to appease backbenchers who are increasingly resistant to many aspects of the coalition's green agenda.

It also places Cameron in an awkward position given that he has met personally with a number of chief executives from leading wind turbine manufacturers to try to convince them to locate new factories in the UK – a charm offensive that has helped secure a significant amount of inward investment in recent months.

The letter follows several months of reports from centre-right thinktanks and lobby groups that have attacked the cost and efficacy of renewable energy, arguing that the UK should instead step up investment in natural gas energy infrastructure.

The reports have been widely criticised by renewable energy and green groups who have accused opponents of orchestrating a campaign to undermine the sector.