A difference of degrees

Apart from a third runway at Heathrow and nuclear power, there's little between the main parties on green issues

By Lewis Smith

With the state of the economy being the over-riding concern of all the main political parties, the environment has been given a low-key role both in the manifestos and the election campaign.

Before the term "credit crunch" came into popular usage, the environment, led by the problem of climate change, was a high-profile issue attracting huge public attention, not least among the political leaders as they vied to prove their green credentials.

But with the economic downturn and fears it would descend into a fully blown depression, attention turned from the environment and back to the more traditional issue of money in pockets. “It’s the economy, stupid.”

It is, then, a measure of how far the environment has come into the political mainstream that all the main parties devote several pages of their manifestos to highlighting the green measures they would take.

However, there is little to choose between them and even the Green Party’s pledges and desires have an air of familiarity when compared with Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. Instead of serious philosophical rivalry over what should be done for the environment, there is mostly just a difference in degrees.

One of the few areas of clear blue sky is the third runway at Heathrow. Labour is for it, because of the airport’s importance to the economy, the Tories and LibDems vow to scrap the plans as they are incompatible with reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

There are also significant differences on nuclear power. Labour and the Tories agree that it should be utilised to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions but the LibDems want to scrap the industry, as they do Trident. The Greens are also anti-nuclear.

In keeping with the preoccupation with the state of the nation’s finances – even within the Green Party – there is a heavy concentration in the manifestos on how supporting green policies can improve the economy and job prospects.

The big three have all signed up to the idea that Britain must reduce its dependence on and use of fossil fuels and instead transform itself into the world’s leading low carbon economy.

They say that the potential offered by low carbon technologies and infrastructure provides an opportunity for the country to position itself at the forefront of the change. By getting in first, they believe, Britain would reap financial dividends for many years.

“Our industrial strategy will ensure that the drive to green our economy will create jobs and businesses in Britain in the manufacture and installation of low-carbon and environmental technologies,” pledges Labour.

Ita a mantra repeated by the party's political rivals. “We will unleash the power of green enterprise,” promise the Tories as they vow to be “the greenest government in our history”. For the LibDems, a greener economy is a fairer economy.

Climate change isn’t forgotten; all the parties recognise it as a problem that has to be tackled at home and abroad, but the emphasis is on the economic good that can be achieved by dealing with it.

They all promise a green investment bank – the LibDems call it the UK Infrastructure Bank – ­to provide investments in low carbon projects.

Job creation is seen as one of the big dividends of green investment. Labour promises to create 400,000 new green jobs by 2015, while the LibDems offer a one-year employment creation scheme to create 100,000 new jobs. The Tories are less specific but talk of creating thousands of new jobs while the Greens demand £5 billion be spent on getting 350,000 people into training.

The drive towards a low carbon economy leaves the main parties agreed that carbon capture and storage technology needs to be pursued. Similarly there is agreement that improvements, such as introducing smart technology, must be made to the electricity grid, especially with the rapid growth of the offshore wind industry.

Green promises are made directly to householders too. Labour, the Tories and the LibDems all offer home insulation schemes and emphasise energy efficiency and smart metering. All three want better recycling rates, with the Tories offering the possibility of cash rewards for people who do the most, while Labour wants to make it illegal to dispose of anything recyclable in a landfill site.

They also all hold similar views are improving rail services, encouraging the take-up of electric cars, protecting wildlife such as whales and bluefin tuna, and creating wildlife corridors to help animals move in response to climate change.

The LibDems have been the most inventive. They're pushing for a £140 million scrappage scheme to replace older buses with new, more energy-efficient and less polluting models. They also want to invest £400 million to refurbish northern shipyards to turn them into manufacturing bases for wind turbine equipment.

The Greens seem the happiest to use taxes to change behaviour. They want, among other things, to tax plastic bags, to scrap corporation tax capital allowances except for green initiatives, to impose fuel duty and VAT on air travel, and to bring back the fuel duty escalator to get cars off the road. They also want carbon quotas for everyone.

26 April 2010

Lewis Smith. Former Environment Editor of The Times,