Government has 'pushed green energy from the plane'

The green spending portion of the UK’s economic stimulus package will have a minuscule impact on the nation’s carbon emissions, according to a new economics foundation (nef) report commissioned by Greenpeace.

The report finds that the new green spending will delay the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions by less than half a day over three years’ time.

“Green Stimulus or Simulus?” states the government could be missing out on the opportunity to boost the economy, ensure energy security and respond to climate change by not doing more to encourage an environment transformation of the economy.

Among the report’s findings:

• New green spending accounts for just 0.6 percent of the UK’s £20 billion recovery plan, or only 0.0083 percent of UK GDP;
• The £100 million allocated for green measures is less than 13 percent of the annual bonus package given to staff at the failed Royal Bank of Scotland, estimated at about £775 million;
• Some aspects of the stimulus package work against the green elements with, for example, £2.3 billion allocated for the auto industry — around 22 times as much as budgeted for green measures;
• The new green measures included in the package will save just one-tenth of a megatonne of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year.

“We face a unique alignment of economic and environmental interests,” said nef’s Andrew Simms, co-author of the report. “Investing in rapid transition away from the UK’s fossil fuel dependence could provide a parachute for a troubled economy. But, it feels like the government has cut the parachute strings and pushed green energy, efficiency and conservation from the plane.”