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Nearly three years after the Greens shook Britain’s established politicians
by polling 15 per cent in the European elections, the three main parties
cannot agree how to respond.

Judging by their manifesto, the Conservatives believe they can meet
environmental concern by quoting their record in office; they offer virtually
nothing new. Labour’s environmental proposals are peripheral to its main
thrust of industrial and social recovery. Its nuclear energy policy, for
example, appears in a chapter on support for families.

But the Liberal Democrats have gone further in absorbing green thinking
into their policies. For example, they propose a new Department of Natural
Resources to take responsibility for environmental protection, leaving the
existing Department of the Environment to concentrate on local government
and housing.

The Liberal Democrat manifesto announces that ‘environment priorities
must be built into all economic decision-making’. It proposes exempting
from stamp duty the sale of houses that meet energy conservation standards,
and introduces widespread use of ‘tradeable’ emission permits to control
pollution – an initiative already contemplated by the Conservatives (This
Week, 21 March). The manifesto also proposes to modify the concept of GDP
‘by incorporating measurements of pollution and resource depletion to create
a figure for sustainable national income’.

Labour promises to subject all government policies to environmental
appraisal. The party will also introduce ‘an annual Green Book assessing
the environmental impact of the government economic policy (which) will
accompany the traditional financial Red Book’.

While all three parties underline the need for international cooperation
to combat environmental problems, only the Liberal Democrats propose to
strengthen the UN Environment Programme. They also go further in combating
ozone depletion: the Liberal Democrats want a CFC ban by 1994. Labour promises
to adopt the ‘tightest timetable possible’ for phasing out CFCs and the
Conservatives will ‘strive to accelerate the eradication of ozone depleting
substances’; but neither gives a firm deadline.

By 2005, the Liberal Democrats want a swingeing 30 per cent cut from
1990 levels in emissions of the most damaging greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.
Such a change would give Britain a world lead. How it would be achieved
is not spelt out, though the Liberal Democrats alone support the European
Commission’s proposed carbon tax, which would help to bring emissions down.

In contrast, the Conservatives are ‘considering’ stabilising carbon
dioxide levels at 1990 levels ahead of their present deadline of 2005. Labour
makes a pledge to cut releases to the same level by 2000.

The Liberal Democrats promise to double spending on renewable energy
R&D and suggest that ‘green power’ should make a bigger contribution
to the country’s power needs than at present. The Conservatives promise
to ‘maintain’ their plans for renewables.

Like Labour, the Liberal Democrats propose an independent agency to
promote renewable energy but, unlike Labour, they specify a series of measures
to boost energy conservation. These include introducing solar panels and
higher standards of energy efficiency for domestic appliances and light
bulbs. Labour limits its plans to pushing hard for energy conservation.
The Conservatives offer tighter building standards to improve energy use
and the creation of an Energy Savings Trust to campaign on energy efficiency.

The nuclear industry has most to fear from the Liberal Democrats, who
alone will stop construction of Sizewell B, the country’s first pressurised
water reactor, which is close to completion. They also want to stop reprocessing
spent nuclear fuel (except for irradiated fuel from the Magnox stations).
Although they pledge to phase out nuclear power, their deadline of 2020
would allow most stations to operate up to the end of their design lives.

Labour will build no more nuclear plants. But the party stays silent
on reprocessing, which takes place mostly at the Sellafield nuclear complex
in the constituency of its campaign coordinator, Jack Cunningham. The Conservatives
remain committed to a ‘safe’ nuclear power programme and propose a root
and branch review in 1994.

All three manifestoes acknowledge Europe’s influence on environmental
policy, but Labour and the Conservatives appear to misunderstand Britain’s
relationship with Brussels. Labour promises to implement Community rules
despite the fact that if it wins power it will have no option but to toe
the line. The Conservatives promise to simplify or remove ‘burdensome’ European
regulations, forgetting that their agreement to allow majority voting on
environmental directives at the Maastricht summit last year effectively
ties their hands.