Leading politicians of the main government parties on Thursday rejected the idea of enacting special legislation for the construction of the proposed controversial Vuotos reservoir in Finnish Lapland.
The establishment of such a reservoir requires amendment of the water law, and the government programme specifically stipulates that the ministers must be unanimous before putting forward any such changes.
The Green League has been staunchly against the Vuotos project. Politicians of other government parties suggested that if the Greens want to prevent the construction, they should propose another source of renewable energy.
The possibility of enacting special legislation came up in an interview that Minister of Economic Affairs Mauri Pekkarinen (Centre) gave to Helsingin Sanomat on Thursday.
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) told the Finnish News Agency STT that he does not believe that Vuotos can be initiated without a change to the water law. However, he feels that it is clear that Pekkarinen will list all available energy sources when he prepares the spring's climate and energy strategy policy lines. The government will then decide what to prune away.
Similar thoughts were expressed by Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen (Nat. Coalition Party) at a meeting of his party's Parliamentary group.
Center Party Parliamentary group chairman Timo Kalli said on Thursday that the European Union's decision on the increase in the proportion of renewable sources in the energy mix has changed the situation since the government talks. Therefore, he feels if a government party wants to rule out a particular source from among renewable sources, it should have an alternative to put forward.
Green Parliamentary group chairwoman Anni Sinnemäki said that she does not think that replacing the energy that would have been produced by the Vuotos reservoir would be difficult. Green League chairwoman Tarja Cronberg notes that the energy policy significance of Vuotos is insignificant, and the matter should be laid to rest.
