A week after Jeremy Corbyn declared climate change was the biggest threat the world faced, May did not so much as utter the words. There were passing references to electric cars and the responsibility to conserve the planet for future generations, but that was it from an environmental perspective. Instead we got praise for expanding Heathrow and building more roads and a promise to freeze fuel duty for a ninth year running. There was not even the slightest nod to those who will be impacted by the air pollution and higher carbon emissions that will result. Even a brief section on the UK’s booming offshore wind industry, its electric taxis, its plans to incentivise a greener approach to land management, would have been more effective at suggesting the government is interested in developing an economy for the 21st century. Better still some sort of plan for improving energy efficiency or tackling recent rising coal emissions or creating green jobs could have helped fill the policy void and given the vague promise to end austerity real purpose.
Business Green 4th Oct 2018 read more »