Green Action Set For Conference Debate - Nicholson (Chris Nicholson)

Green Action Set For Conference Debate - Nicholson

September 18, 2007 11:00 AM

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson for Streatham, Chris Nicholson, has welcomed plans that will make Britain a zero carbon country by the middle of the century.

The proposals, debated on Monday at the Lib Dem's Party Conference in Brighton, include an increase in green taxes on the most polluting activities such as the use of gas-guzzling cars and aircraft. The money raised would be used for major investment in new high speed rail systems and a cut in income tax by 4 pence in the pound to 16 pence.

Local campaigner Chris Nicholson, who is attending the conference, said:

"The Liberal Democrats have long argued that we have to tackle the problem of pollution and damage to the planet. The proposals that we will put forward in Brighton would make Britain a carbon neutral country."

Increasing amounts of carbon dioxide is thought to contribute to climate change and the likelihood of extreme weather conditions. Several basement flats around the Streatham area suffered incidents of localised flooding during the the heavy rain which caused thousands of pounds of damage and left local residents deeply unhappy.

Chris Nicholson added

"Flooding in Streatham shows the real impact that climate change can have on people's lives."

"The Liberal Democrats are the only main political party truly committed to tackling climate change head on."

"In contrast, Gordon Brown has cut the tax burden on pollution, whilst putting up the tax burden on people."

NOTES

The Liberal Democrats have been identified as the greenest of the three main political parties in an audit by Britain's environmental groups published on 12 th September. The groups include Friends of the Earth, Green Alliance, Greenpeace, the National Trust, the RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts, the Woodland Trust, WWF-UK and Cameron. The Conservatives came out the worst in the audit leading the green organisations to comment there was a "stark" gap between the party's aspirations and its limited policy commitments. Labour scored one "green light" whilst the Liberal Democrats scored three.

The report can be found at: http://www.thegreenstandard.org.uk/