Tag Archives: green

Green Growth

Given our current low poll rating, a number of fellow Liberals have expressed concern that we might soon be overtaken in popularity by the Green Party, some have even taken an interest in joining them. We certainly face competition from the Greens for the votes of those looking for an alternative to the old Conservative/Labour duopoly so they cannot be ignored but how much of a threat are they really? Well, internationally Greens have been making progress in a number of countries in the wake of the accelerating climate crisis, in places like Germany, Australia and New Zealand they are the third party in parliament, helped of course by the fairer voting systems that are used there. So what is the position here in the UK and should we be worried? On the face of it, we are well ahead with 11 MPs to the Greens 1 and our local government numbers at 2,500 dwarfs theirs which stands at less than 500. The only place where they have built a significant base in Brighton where they have their single MP and a sizable council group which has included a spell running the authority. A period that was not without controversy, including as it did a confrontation with its workforce and a failed attempt to fight government funding cuts.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 24 Comments

South Lakeland District Council: Climate Action Plan

I very much favour articles that are about climate change, biodiversity etc. and I had a write up from Cllr. Dyan Jones from South Lakeland District council, on climate change, that I thought I would share with LDV readers

Tahir Maher

Wednesday Editor

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Here in Cumbria, South Lakeland District Council takes the business of climate change seriously, and sustainability underpins everything we seek to do.

Declaring our position last year; recognising the emergency, committing to action and unanimously agreeing to make this a public commitment, we set out to inform, influence and implement actions to address this emergency in all areas under our direct …

Posted in News | Also tagged and | 23 Comments

A Green Revolution is the recovery plan we need

Too many political leaders would let us sleepwalk into a global catastrophe.

Boris Johnson and Donald Trump have never cared about the climate emergency. They will trash world agreements in favour of pursuing their dangerous ideologies and serve only those with vested interests in oil and coal.

But despite this, I’m an optimist. 

I’ve taken on Conservatives in government before – and won for our environment. As Secretary of State for Climate Change I oversaw the near quadrupling of Britain’s renewable energy, I smashed the monopoly of the ‘Big 6’ companies on the energy market, and I saw the creation of 250,000 of new green jobs in all corners of the UK.

As Liberal Democrats, we owe it to our children and grandchildren to fight for our planet. Future generations must inherit a world where everyone can breathe clean air, where making the green choice is a natural choice, and where our reliance on dirty fossil fuels is a distant memory. We need a Green Revolution.

Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged and | 37 Comments

The Green Agenda: Lib Dems in Business dinner

The environment was our theme at the Liberal Democrats in Business dinner in Oxford last night (after a session of polling-day phone banking for Sarah Olney!).

We were pleased to welcome as speakers Baroness Kate Parminter, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader in the Lords and Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Dr Imad Ahmed of the Department of Earth Sciences, Oxford University.

Dr Ahmed spoke of recent research into nano-particles in air pollution and how they affect our brains. The study, and how air pollution is a possible cause of Alzheimer’s, has been reported here in the UK and around the world.

Just in the news today is reporting of a move by major cities to ban diesel vehicles. This is due to their production of particulate matter (PM) and nitrous oxide (NOx). Dr Ahmed, in his talk, showed pictures of the effect of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on the brain.

The link between our health and the air we breathe was also made by Kate Parminter. Baroness Parminter spoke to us on environmental policy and what we should be doing now.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 11 Comments
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