Government accused of being on a collision course with environment
Green policy news – by GreenWise staff
5th December 2011
The Government has been accused of being on a collision course with the environment in a coordinated attack by green groups, countryside campaigners and wildlife groups over its claims to be the "greenest Government ever".
Organisations including the
Wildlife Trusts,
RSPB and the
Campaign to Protect Rural England have joined forces with environmental campaign groups including
Greenpeace to vent their fury at what they see as a Government U-turn on its
green commitments. In a series of letters published in the
Observer on Sunday, they accuse the Government of showing a "stunning disregard" for the natural environment and of making a mockery of Prime Minister David Cameron’s claims at the last election that his would be the "greenest Government ever".
The attack follows George Osborne’s
autumn statement last Tuesday, in which he announced a number of measures to stimulate economic growth, including controversial
road-building, carbon tax relief on energy intensive industries and planning reform. The Chancellor also proposed reform of the Habitat Directive, saying he did not want to see "gold plating of EU rules on things like habitats" putting "ridiculous costs" on firms.
Under attackBut a letter, signed by the heads of the RSPB, Greenpeace and others, read: "The stunning disregard shown for the value of the natural environment not only flies in the face of popular opinion but goes against everything the Government said in June, when it launched two major pieces of environmental
policy – the Natural Environment White Paper and the England
Biodiversity Strategy."
Another letter, signed by green campaigners including Green Party leader Caroline Lucas, Jonathan Porritt and Tony Juniper, warned starkly that the Chancellor’s autumn statement demonstrated that "the Coalition is on a path to becoming the most environmentally destructive government to hold power in this country since the modern environmental movement was born."
Cabinet splitThe attack comes amid continuing reports that a serious split is emerging in the Cabinet over the Government's green policies. According to the
Observer, the Energy Secretary Chris Huhne was not consulted by George Osborne over his comments in the autumn statement, in which he suggested certain climate change and carbon policies would not "save the planet", but only drive jobs and business abroad.
"We are getting a change of rhetoric, with more emphasis on the burdens that green projects could put on the economy. But it is out of step with what the Government is doing, much of which is radical and forward-looking," Tim Yeo, the Tory chairman of the energy and climate committee, told the
Observer.
Like this story? Please subscribe to our free weekly e-newsletter at the top of the page for more content like this.
Related content:
