Renew On Line (UK) 29

Extracts from the Nov-Dec 2000 edition of Renew
These extracts only represent about 25% of it

Conservatives would scrap Climate Levy

With an election in the offing, Damian Green MP, the Conservative Spokesman for the Environment, announced that, if elected the Conservatives would pursue a 'blue green' agenda. Outlining the Conservative Party's alternative approach to tackling climate change, he said this would include abolishing the Climate Change Levy.

‘Labour want to introduce an energy tax, but Government research has shown that building more gas-fired power stations would be a better way to reduce CO2 emission’. So, the Conservatives would ‘replace Labour's energy tax with tradable emissions permits, to encourage industry to reduce emissions in an efficient, market-driven manner’, and, in addition, they would ‘encourage more gas-fired power stations, so allowing dirtier energy sources to be replaced’. They argue that allowing just six new gas CCGT plants to be built would save more carbon emissions than the entire Climate Change levy.

Friends of the Earth were quick to challenge this approach. They argued that the Conservative proposal to scrap the Climate Change Levy is "a dangerous and ill-informed u-turn on the environment. Scrapping the Levy would blow a huge hole in the UK's programme to cut emissions of climate changing gases. This move would threaten pollution cuts of up to 4 million tonnes of greenhouse gases, about a third of the anticipated annual reductions. Producing this half-baked idea in the run up to the General Election leaves the Conservatives environmental credentials in tatters."

However FoE would pressumably be less concerned about the Conservatives other proposals - to ‘support energy efficiency measures in people's homes - especially amongst the elderly and the vulnerable’ and ‘promote renewable energy.’

As noted in Renew 126 the Conservatives have set up a 'Green Energy Commission' of experts from the renewable energy industry ‘to develop policy solutions to support this growing industry’. A report is due shortly. Meanwhile, Damian Green commented that Labour ‘promised to ensure that 10 per cent of all electricity would be generated from renewable sources by 2010, but they have done nothing to promote renewable energy. ‘

One way or another then, it looks like policy on energy might become an election issue. Criticism of Labours approach to renewables may certainly be made, but Labour has already relented on its opposition to the dash for gas. However, there does remain the point that there is a limit to the savings that can be obtained from switching from coal to gas, not least the long term availability of gas. Do we really want to rely on imports from Russia?