A fierce fight is raging in the Coalition government over the future of our electricity system - and how to ensure our power needs are affordable and met without wrecking the climate. At the heart of this battle are Chancellor George Osborne and Energy Secretary Ed Davey.
Earlier this week Ed Davey appeared to hit a winning punch by preventing the massive cuts to wind energy subsidies that the Chancellor had been pushing for. However, there are fears that this victory may have been bought at a heavy cost: the development of a clean energy future.
In his statement on Wednesday the Energy Secretary trumpeted the benefits of developing the UK's huge renewable energy potential. But Treasury arm-twisting forced Davey to also concede that gas will "play an important part in the energy mix well into and beyond 2030" - despite the urgent need to wean the economy off fossil fuels.
Later this year a new Energy Bill will be presented to MPs, presenting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a low carbon electricity system and reap the benefits of developing clean British energy from the wind, waves and sun.
The environmental benefits would be huge. The Committee on Climate Change, the Government's official climate advisor, has said that in order to meet our targets for cutting emissions our electricity system must be almost entirely decarbonised by 2030.
A clean energy system would be good for the economy too. The green economy is already growing at more than four per cent each year. Developing the nation's huge renewable energy potential will generate tens of thousands of jobs and reduce the UK's dependency on increasingly expensive gas imports. The soaring price of gas has been the main factor behind rocketing household fuel bills - and according to experts such as the International Energy Agency its price is expected to continue to rise.
But, perhaps oddly for a Chancellor presiding over an economic slump, George Osborne isn't much of a clean energy enthusiast.
Despite his pledge in 2009 - when Shadow Chancellor - that "I want a Conservative Treasury to lead the development of the low carbon economy and finance a green recovery" he has shown little but hostility to clean energy since coming to power.
In fact the Chancellor appears to have aligned himself to himself with a vocal collection of backbench MPs who simply don't like renewable power - and is reportedly fighting hard for a new generation of gas-fired power stations.
This stance is not only at odds with his coalition partners the Lib Dems - but also his Prime Minister David Cameron.
'Vote blue, go green', we were urged back in 2006, as the Conservative party sought to persuade the electorate that they were the real champions of the planet.
And even when David Cameron was finally handed the keys to Number 10 he was still pushing his party's environmental credentials, pledging to lead the 'greenest Government ever'.
The pressure is now on David Cameron to take action to sort out the clash in his Cabinet, as criticism of his Chancellor is mounting from a growing number of unlikely sources.
Earlier this month the Confederation of British Industry slammed the Government for failing to back the green economy and its effects on business and criticised the uncertainty being sown by the Chancellor.
And a report by a committee of MPs published this week was also highly critical of the Chancellor and his lack of support for clean energy.
David Cameron is now at a crucial crossroads. He must support his Energy Minister over the Chancellor and insist that the upcoming Energy Bill includes a target to decarbonise the UK's electricity system by 2030.
Unless he challenges the Chancellor's hostility to building a cleaner economy, his authority and credibility will be smashed and the UK will be locked in to a high-carbon and expensive energy system for decades.
For more information on Friends of the Earth's clean British energy campaign click here.