Greening the economy

I’ve always been quite keen on Ed Miliband as a political personality – much more so than his brother. He comes across as low-key, competent, normal… This might be the kiss of death but he could well be a better bet as Labour leader in the long-term.

Anyway – the point of this is not to scupper his political career by having a Conservative endorse him. The point is to say yes please, and please take up more of our policy proposals, to his announcement this week that the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction target should be 80 per cent of 1990 levels. And more importantly, that tough economic times must not mean that greening the economy goes out the window.

Despite arguments to the contrary, I stand by my argument that (replacement green) tax changes are the only way that sufficient focus on the development of replacement technologies will occur. As we’ve seen over the past few years, unless there is an economic rationale for changing the way we consume, not enough people are prepared to make those changes for ‘ideological’ reasons.

Before anyone starts suggesting I join the Labour party and increase taxes all over the place, please note – I said green taxes must be replacement taxes. They should encourage people to think about how they consume, allow people to make choices that make an appreciable difference to their tax burden, and, most importantly, generate real alternatives to the items on which green taxes are increased. 

We are in difficult economic times. There are tough choices ahead. I want to know that the people who may be the next government are thinking for the long-term. Unlike Gordon Brown, who didn’t save in times of plenty so that in times of hardship we would have something to fall back on, I want George Osborne to work with the rest of the Shadow Cabinet to ensure that we are preparing for the future, by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, researching and making viable clean alternatives, and ensuring that we think about how we consume.

Even if you don’t agree with the climate change agenda, surely you can see that increasing energy security, reducing pollution and reducing your tax burden are all good things. So well done to the Shadow DEFRA team and the Quality of Life policy group for producing some great ideas, and good for Ed Miliband for trying to implement some of them. 

Related posts:

1. Greening politics
2. Blueprint for a Green Economy
3. ‘Fair’ fuel stabiliser