David Cameron Shows his True Colours, Green Certainly is Not One of Them

The Sun newspaper has announced that British Prime Minister “David Cameron’s extraordinary transformation on the environment is complete,” after his supposedly ordered members of his government to “get rid of all the green crap” from energy bills.

The UK is facing record energy prices as the cost of living continues to rise. The effort to reduce energy bills has become a focal point in the political battle between the conservatives and the labour party as the country’s general elections approach in 2015. Ed Miliband took an early lead when he promised to freeze energy bills for 18 months if victorious in the poles. David Cameron has tried to combat this move by pledging to reduce green taxes, which energy companies have blamed for their rising prices; currently green levies add about £112 to the average household energy bill.

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After Cameron was quoted as using the term “green crap”, Downing Street released a carefully worded response claiming that they did not recognise the quote, although this hardly matters as for some time Cameron has followed a path that moves ever away from his initial promise of creating the greenest government ever.

An anonymous senior Tory source told the Sun that, “we used to say: 'Vote blue, go green', now it's: 'Vote blue, get real'.”

According to the Telegraph the UK has the highest level of fuel poverty in the EU bar Estonia, so Cameron’s decision to reign in green taxes, which are used to fund alternative energy developments, is bemusing.

In August, a YouGov poll found that 78% of people support government funding for solar power installations, and 65% are in support of wind power. A separate poll by the Mail on Sunday in October showed that 75% of people do not believe the claims that green taxes are the reason for rising energy bills.

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Craig Bennett, the campaigns director at the Friends of the Earth, commented that “it would come as little surprise if David Cameron did tell aides to ditch the 'green crap' - his government has been attacking environmental policies for years.

The reality is that protecting the planet and building a strong economy are two sides of the same coin.

The best way to protect cash-strapped households from soaring fuel bills is to end the nation's dependency on increasingly costly gas by investing in energy efficiency and home-grown renewable power.”

More details about which green taxes face the chop will likely be released in next month’s autumn statement.

By. James Burgess of Oilprice.com