Why is the government backing nuclear, oil and gas when the smart money is on energy efficiency and renewables?

This makes lots of sense from The Guardian's Head of Environment, Damian Carrington (photo right):

"Follow the money: in the billion-dollar world of the energy business that is good advice. So what do the collapse of a quarter of the UK's new nuclear power plans and the gas still billowing dangerously from Total's Elgin rig in the North Sea tell us about keeping the lights on and tackling climate change at a price we can afford?

"It tells us first that, despite decades of lavish public subsidy, nuclear power remains uninvestable without heavy state backing. And second it tells us that even "safe" gas and oil fields pose serious risks, making the race to the ends of the Earth and the depths of the oceans for new fields a true fool's errand."

Read more on The Guardian's website here.