When Cameron first set about decontaminating the Conservative brand, the emphasis was on turning the Tories into the party of the environment – the Blue ‘n’ Greens, if you like. But with the decontaminaion near enough over – and after the unmitigated disaster that was the Tories’ last environment report – the emphasis has slowly shifted onto other areas.
But now green issues look set to return with a vengeance. As Alex Singleton reports over at Three Line Whip, the think tank Policy Exchange have just begun a “programme revisiting environmental policy”. The focus, says Singleton, will be on practical environmentalism – such as how to deal with litter. And you can be sure that what Policy Exchange comes up with will soon be official Tory policy.
Early days, I know, but it sounds promising. Whilst I’m still uncertain about the science behind climate change, I do think that there’s nothing wrong – in principle – with looking after our planet. But, at a time of fiscal hardship, it’s unreasonable, unrealistic and – to some extent – immoral to impose massive costs on the public in order to do so. Keeping fuel prices artifically high with hefty fuel taxes doesn’t (yet) force people to run out and buy electric cars. It places a fiscal burden on them, and potentially impoverishes them The same can be said of ramping up vehicle excise duty, or any other of the Government’s countless green policies.
On the other hand, encouraging people to put their litter in a bin, or to turn off lights/taps when leaving a room is not only good for the environment, it could also be good for their pocket-books. Hopefully, Policy Exchange will deliver that kind of environmentalism. Because that’s an environmentalism I’m sure the public will be happy to get behind.
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