This week's MP's column comes from Robbie Moore, Conservative MP for Keighley and Ilkley

THE government is creating and supporting 250,000 jobs through a green industrial revolution – and that is a plan I wholeheartedly support.

This year started with great hope. The country had only recently delivered a decisive majority for Boris Johnson’s Conservative government and the work of growing our economy, creating jobs and putting more money in your pocket was underway.

Despite the challenges we have all faced this year, the government is still delivering on ambitious plans to create jobs and level-up opportunities across the UK.

Tackling climate change and reducing our carbon emissions to net-zero is one of my top priorities. The clock is ticking, and we all need to take action – from big companies, down to the actions we all take as individuals. Last week, the Prime Minister unveiled a 10-point plan to bring about a new, green industrial revolution. 

The plan includes:

  • Producing enough offshore wind to power every home, quadrupling how much we produce to 40GW by 2030.
  • Working with industry aiming to generate 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 for industry, transport, power and homes, and aiming to develop the first town heated entirely by hydrogen by the end of the decade.
  • Advancing nuclear as a clean energy source, across large scale nuclear and developing the next generation of small and advanced reactors; backing our world-leading car manufacturing bases to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, and transforming our national infrastructure to better support electric vehicles.
  • Making cycling and walking more attractive ways to travel and investing in zero-emission public transport of the future; supporting difficult-to-decarbonise industries to become greener through research projects for zero-emission planes and ships.
  • Making our homes, schools and hospitals greener, warmer and more energy efficient, whilst creating 50,000 jobs by 2030, and a target to install 600,000 heat pumps every year by 2028.
  • Becoming a world-leader in technology to capture and store harmful emissions away from the atmosphere, with a target to remove 10MT of carbon dioxide by 2030, equivalent to all emissions of the industrial Humber today
  • Protecting and restoring our natural environment, planting 30,000 hectares of trees every year, whilst creating and retaining thousands of jobs.
  • Developing the cutting-edge technologies needed to reach these new energy ambitions and make the City of London the global centre of green finance. 

Whilst a green industrial revolution will of course benefit our planet, it will also help our economy recover from the damage done by the coronavirus pandemic.

By 2030 the government will end the sale of petrol and diesel cars, with less-polluting – and crucially cheaper to run – electric vehicles taking their place. s committed to back our world-class car manufacturers in making this change, and there will always be opportunities for the supply chain to benefit manufacturers across Keighley and Ilkley.

I will be a champion for our local businesses, and elsewhere in West Yorkshire to ensure we can benefit from British-made electric vehicles. I was delighted when the government announced the Green Homes Grant earlier this year.

The scheme gives homeowners vouchers of up to £5,000 to make their homes more energy efficient through insulation and new technologies.

Earlier this month, I wrote to the Business and Energy Secretary, Alok Sharma, asking him to improve and extend the scheme.

The scheme has already been extended until March 2022, but there are still further changes I want to see.

I want to see the scheme enhanced to make it easier to use the grant for certain types of improvements – such as upgrades from single to double glazing, or solar panels. I also want to see the government expand the number of eligible installers. 

The scheme can also be accessed by councils too. Bradford Council has applied and secured funding to insulate properties. They can apply again for more funding, and I want to see them do that. 

I back the plans for a green industrial revolution and it is intrinsically linked to the government’s commitment to level up opportunities for areas like ours. I will fight to ensure the plan leads to more jobs and investment in my constituency.