Conservative Environmental Policies For The UK
According to most political analysts, the Conservative party are the most likely party to win the next general election. So what are their environmental policies, and what are they planning to do about climate change?
On the Conservative website they set out 'where they stand' on environmental issues. They have a green tree favicon so things look promising. They start by saying "A Conservative Government will make Britain greener by tackling climate change and enhancing our environment."
But the following policies do little to persuade me they can make any big changes to climate change. Notably "a voluntary arrangement among producers to cut back on the production of waste and improve its disposal" is not something I can see many businesses fighting over.
In an accompanying pdf, they mention the use of streams to work as micro generators. Whilst this is a novel idea, I'm not sure it would create sufficient power for any realist impact on our energy production.
They talk about a 'decentralised energy revolution', where people could walk into their nearest hardware store and buy the latest micro generator unit.
As with most Conservative policies, their ideas are about empowering the individual, and having less input from the state. Whilst I agree it would be better if we all had power generation in our own homes, for many it simply isn't practical. For one thing, not many people live near a stream. Wind power has been proved to be ineffective in urban areas, and solar panels can't be installed if you live in the middle of a tower block.
In their 'low carbon economy' pdf they talk about introducing a new electrical grid system, using smart grid and smart meter technology. There is undoubtedly a lot of energy lost through power lines, and if this is possible it sounds like a good idea.
Under the heading 'low carbon energy sources' they propose to fit carbon capture and storage to all new coal fired power stations. They don't mention using CCS on current power stations, and using coal power and low carbon in the same breath seems a bit of an oxymoron.
They also mention improving our ability to cope with new extreme weather conditions and flood prevention. I would rather that money be spent on actually preventing climate change though - prevention is better than cure.
Published - Thu 29th Oct 2009 13:25:29
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Gary
One area where the Conservatives have an advantage over the left-liberal response to climate change is in regard to rural affairs.
While curbing energy emissions is a major step that must be taken, there also has to be changes to farming practices, countryside management and rural communities to make them sustainable. Here the Tories, who are largely based in the countryside, are better placed to deliver than the other parties on the environment.
Posted on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:30:49