Tories will quickly introduce a bill to launch a green energy revolution

Telegraph.co.uk , Friday, April 30, 2010
Correspondent : By Geoffrey Lean Politics
There’ll be no delay in pushing through a green energy revolution if the Conservatives win power, senior shadow cabinet figures tell me. Greg Clark, the Tories shadow energy and climate change minister, has won an undertaking from David Cameron and the party leadership that an energy bill will be included in the first Queen’s Speech, delivered within a month of the new Government taking office.

The bill will meet manifesto pledges to entitle each household to £6,400 for energy saving measures, set up a Green Investment Bank, reform the Climate Change Levy to provide a floor price for carbon, and reform the energy regulator, Ofgem. Green energy plans are most unlikely to be derailed if the Tories have to govern with LibDem support, official or unofficial, since Nick Clegg’s party is at least as keen on bringing about a low-carbon revolution. A Labour, or Labour-led government, however, is likely to find it harder rapidly to introduce an energy bill, however, as ministers have only just enacted one.

Green energy is close to David Cameron’s heart, but he and his party are still remaining surprisingly quiet on the low carbon economy, and the environment generally, in the election campaign. True, on Monday he launched a mini-manifesto on the quality of life with his old slogan ‘vote blue, go green’: indeed he added, ‘the alternative to voting blue and going green is turning Brown’. But, all the same, only a sixth of the document – which ranged over issues from policing to funding for the arts, from civil liberties to local health care – was on the environment and transport. In fact it contained less than the main manifesto: policies on GM were among those left out. By contrast, Labour published a remarkably detailed 19 page green manifesto on Sunday.

Still actions count for much more than words even – or, perhaps, especially – at election time. If the Tories do win and press on with the bill, as promised, environmentalists may forget their bashfulness at the hustings. On the other hand, the old energy industries and climate rejectionists may claim that the new government does not have enough of a mandate to embark upon a green revolution at all.

 
SOURCE : http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/geoffreylean/100036997/tories-will-quickly-introduce-a-bill-to-launch-a-green-energy-revolution/
 


Back to pevious page



The NetworkAbout Us  |  Our Partners  |  Concepts   
Resources :  Databases  |  Publications  |  Media Guide  |  Suggested Links
Happenings :  News  |  Events  |  Opinion Polls  |  Case Studies
Contact :  Guest Book  |  FAQs |  Email Us