GOVERNMENT plans for a 'Green energy revolution' unveiled today in its new Energy White paper and a rare speech on the environment by Tony Blair are unattainable without radical change at the top, Green Party Euro-MP Jean Lambert has warned.
"The Government's aims as spelt out today are laudable, but they won't happen all by themselves," said Mrs Lambert. "The 'targets' on energy efficiency, emissions reduction and renewable energy production are all voluntary - which means the government will only have the power to introduce the necessary changes by changing the way government itself works."
The Energy White paper, unveiled at the House of Commons by Trade and Industry Minister Patricia Hewitt this afternoon, calls for major changes in the way we produce, use and pay for energy.
Key targets include a 60 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and for 10 per cent of UK electricity to come from renewable sources by 2010.
"The real question now though is how the Government plans to deliver on any of this," said Mrs Lambert.
"The reality is government policy is simply not integrated and the ongoing work of other departments and ministries - far from contributing to achieving these aims - are actively undermining them." More follows…
"The Treasury, DFID, the Foreign Office, the Defence Department, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and DEFRA, for example, are all pursuing policies which will make this new environmental push harder to achieve," she said.
The Government's commitment to the environment can be tested by asking key questions of these departments, Mrs Lambert said.
For example:
· Will the planned changes in planning law introduce energy efficiency requirements for new buildings?
· Will the government now abandon its commitment to airport expansion?
· Will the government press for the introduction of a tax on aviation fuel?
· Will the forthcoming criteria on Export Credit Guarantees ensure Government cash is not used to fund infrastructure to improve delivery of fossil fuels, such as the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline in Turkey?
· What will the forthcoming budget statement say about fiscal incentives for improving energy efficiency and renewable energy production?
· How would war in Iraq square with a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and energy waste?
· Will the government introduce rules on local authority procurement ensuring public services employ best practice on energy use? "The targets unveiled today are quite simply unattainable unless the government integrates them into all areas of its work," Mrs Lambert concluded.
"Subjecting the work of key departments to this kind of scrutiny makes clear that this environmental enthusiasm is not central to the Government's thinking and therefore it is unrealistic to hope it can meet these worthy aims."
ENDS
For more information please contact Ben Duncan on 020 7407 6280 or 07973 823358