David Cameron has made a pledge to cut carbon emissions by 10% in the first 12 months of the new coalition Government. Speaking at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, Cameron stated that, “There is a fourth minister in this department who cares passionately about this agenda and that is me, the Prime Minister”.
However, in the election campaign, fellow Tories didn't have the same enthusiasm for the environment as Cameron, with a large amount of Tory candidates placing “reducing Britain’s carbon footprint” as the least important of 19 issues presented to them. Therefore, Cameron downplayed his environmental plans during the election, but the opportunity to work with Lib Dems allowed Cameron to revive his enthusiasm, the first offer he made during the post-election negotiations was to build a low-carbon economy.
As a result of the green Lib Dem manifesto, the coalition agreement has at least 20 environmental commitments, with particular attention being given to the low-carbon economy, promoting energy saving and renewable energy over fossil fuels and high-speed rail and electric cars over air travel. Heathrow’s third runway will now be scrapped, no new ones will be built at Stanstead or Gatwick, and there will be tougher restrictions on coal-fired power stations.
Transparency is also going to be increased in carbon emission cuts made by Government departments who will publish their energy used. The introduction offive-year fixed term Parliaments to deal with environmental issues will also allow long-term goals to be properly executed.
Liberal Democrat Chris Huhne, the new secretary for Energy and Climate Change has been given three main areas to concentrate on in his new appointment which include the green economy, climate change and energy security. Unlike Labour, Chris Huhne is sceptical about atomic power which the Government have said they will deny subsidy for, indicating that new nuclear power stations are less likely to be built.
However, the promise of “the greenest government ever” has been met with scepticism by Deborah Doane, director of the World Development Movement. She emphasised the need to take the scale of the problem seriously rather than government simply “turning off its lights at nights”. She also expressed concern that the coalition agreement and the Conservative manifesto did not say anything about the post-Copenhagen climate negotiations.
