Michael Gove has been reintroduced to the front bench as the new Environment Secretary.
The move comes amongst a reshuffle of positions in Theresa May's Government, which suffered a big blow when the Tories lost just over a dozen seats in the snap General Election last week.
Gove replaces Andrea Leadsom, who is now Leader of the House of Commons.
Environmentalists are sure to be sceptical about the appointment.
Cedrec's take
Gove's track record shows a clear disdain for environmental protection policies. He voted against reducing the permitted carbon dioxide emission rate of new homes. He also made moves to remove climate change from the education curriculum for geography.
Additionally, he voted to apply the Climate Change Levy tax to electricity generated by renewables. He voted against requiring the UK Green Investment Bank to explicitly act in support of the target of reducing UK carbon emissions to 20% of 1990 levels by 2050. He voted against requiring the setting of a target range for the amount of carbon dioxide (or other greenhouse gases) produced per unit of electricity generated.
For other crucial votes, he was not present, such as votes on the Energy Bill and Climate Change Bill. However, whilst he is not necessarily the greenest thinker, his record does recommend him for the job in a Government relying on fracking.
