CPS Head of Economic Research Adam Memon contributed to a City A.M. debate with Matthew Sinclair titled “As the Tories consider new restrictions on wind farms, is the coalition’s green agenda dying?”.
To read the full debate, visit the City A.M. website.
The Conservative leadership seems to have recognised that the green agenda of hyper-regulation and excessive taxation has placed crippling costs on businesses and households. The announcement that the carbon price support rate will be frozen at £18 per tonne up to 2020 is a major step in prioritising competitiveness over reducing emissions. Fuel duty and air passenger duty (APD) were once sold as green taxes, but fuel duty has been frozen and two bands of APD abolished. Renewable feed-in tariffs, including for solar power, are essentially subsidies for the very wealthy, and have been cut. The cost of the Eco insulation scheme has also been cut. Energy security and lower prices, whether through more competition or fracking for shale gas, are now rightfully the focus of attention. By supporting more travel, trade and jobs, the government is raising living standards and in the process the green agenda is dying. Nobody should mourn its passing. Adam Memon is head of economic research at the Centre for Policy Studies.
To read the full debate, visit the City A.M. website.
Date Added: Saturday 7th June 2014
