By Paul Homewood
The BBC/Guardian’s coordinated campaign for a green deal seems to have run up against the buffers, and the Green Blob are spitting feathers!
From the Guardian:
Boris Johnson is to set out a “new deal” for jobs and infrastructure on Tuesday, painting himself as a “Rooseveltian” prime minister lifting Britain out of the biggest recession in centuries, and a pledge to use the coronavirus crisis to tackle unresolved challenges such as health, education and regional inequalities.
“To that end, we will build build build,” he is expected to say. “Build back better, build back greener, build back faster, and to do that at the pace that this moment requires.
However, his promise to “build back greener” was greeted with dismay by environmental experts, who were concerned that the climate crisis receives scant attention in what the government is revealing so far of its plans.
Most of the spending announcements will focus on the NHS, education and improvements for town centres. There will be £100m for roads and £10m for rail in Manchester, as well as £900m on unspecified “shovel-ready” local growth projects in England.
Tree-planting is set for a boost, with Johnson re-affirming plans to plant more than 75,000 acres a year by 2025, with £40m for local conservation projects creating 3,000 jobs and safeguarding 2,000.
Ed Matthew, of the Climate Coalition, said: “The only thing Rooseveltian about this plan is that it belongs in the fossil fuel age. There is very little announced today which will do anything to accelerate the transition to a zero carbon economy. The prime minister has to back up his rhetoric on a green recovery with action to prioritise green investment. Future generations will not forgive a government that fails to use this opportunity to build a safer climate for us all.”
Tanya Steele, chief executive of conservation group WWF, added: “We are in the midst of a climate and nature crisis, and these lukewarm plans address only part of our nation’s much-needed recovery. The prime minister is out of touch with the scale of the challenges.”
I’m sure the general public, who rather outnumber what the Guardian calls “the thousands of people who are participating in the first ever virtual lobby of parliament on the day of this speech, calling for a green recovery”, would much rather see the money spent on the NHS, education and local projects, as the BBC describe:
This latest booster comes on top of the main National Infrastructure and Construction Procurement Pipeline, announced last month, which amounts to between £29 and £37 billion of procurements to be made this financial year. (Effectively this means contracts placed, rather than money spent).
BEIS show the analysis:
The £397 million for Energy projects covers three schemes:
- Nuclear decommissioning – £174 million
- A low carbon pilot depot – £10 million
- Construction of a manufacturing base/installation base on Teeside for the offshore wind market – £214 million
So there is nothing there either to satisfy the greenies’ demand for clean transport, nature restoration, and low-carbon buildings.
Neither is there going to be the demanded cut in the £20 billion allocated for transport.
According to the FT, we have Dominic Cummings to blame thank for this!
Well done, Dom!
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