Who's greener? Brown or Cameron
Posted by DavidM in Green Politics | 19 March 2007
It was the clash of the titans last week for the green vote. Both Gordon Brown and David Cameron make major speeches on the environment to illustrate their green credentials.
Brown was talking ahead of the presentation of the draft Climate Change Bill to reduce carbon dioxide emissions 60% by 2050. It proposes 5 year planning periods to achieve this. David Cameron called for annual targets to focus the government on immediate action and continual progress. My worry with a long-term target and longer planning timescales is that the action gets back-ended. Change now is vital.
Gordon Brown also called for a national carbon budget with quotas for industry and for new homes to be carbon neutral within a decade. The following day, David Milliband (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) also talked about personal carbon trading schemes. Essentially Brown would like the UK population to count the carbon as well as the pennies.
David Cameron took on what would traditionally have been a Labour position - driving down emissions by increasing taxes on flights. Continuing the theme of swapping political positions, Gordon Brown said the Conservative's plans would do "huge damage to business and the consumer".
So what's been the reaction on the blogs?
Tom Idle on the Environment Business Blog gives a good overview of the two positions and includes a great quote from George Osborne, shadow chancellor, about Gordon Brown - "the only thing about him that's green is his recycling of policies". Overall Tom sees the speeches as positive - with leading politicians sensing the need for change.
David Cameron's website has video of him talking about his proposals. He makes the point that passenger air duty taxes full aircraft and not empty aircraft whereas a tax on fuel targets the actual emissions. Unsurprisingly the comments on the blog are generally positive.
There are interesting comments on Political Betting's article. On one hand, Labour's plans are seen as a cynical postponement of action - the 5-year target gives this (and potentially the next) government a cop-out. On the other, while David Cameron may be concerned about the environment, there is worry that many in the Tory party don't give two hoots.
Ellee Seymour highlights that one the same day as Gordon Brown's environment speech, new regulations could hinder investment in environmental projects.
And finally, a humourous post on rumours that David Milliband is planning a 100% reduction in emsissions by 2010.
Historically I am a labour-leaning voter. However, wih regard to the environment I'm a bit stuck. I like David Cameron's proposals and believe in him far more than I do Gordon Brown who seems to be playing at it rather than believing it. However, I also think the core of the Conservative party isn't aligned and worry what would actually happen if they got into power.
