20th March 2013
THE BUDGET – GREENPEACE RESPONDS
Commenting on today’s budget, Greenpeace executive director John Sauven
said:
“This was a twentieth-century budget for a twenty-first century economy.
We got tax breaks for polluters and almost complete disinterest in the green
economy, one of the only sectors that has consistently delivered jobs and growth
in recent years. British businesses stand poised to become dominant forces in the
global clean energy market, but they’re being undermined by a Chancellor who seems
increasingly ill-suited to the times we live in. This man lacks a vision.”
FRACKING
Responding to the Chancellor’s announcement of tax breaks for the shale
gas industry, Greenpeace energy campaigner Lawrence Carter said:
“The Chancellor is slashing
public services with one hand while gifting tax breaks to the fossil fuel
industry with the other. This is unfair on struggling households,
especially when everyone from the energy regulator Ofgem to BP to the Energy
Secretary say UK fracking won’t bring down bills.”
He continued:
“Bungs to the gas industry make it harder for Britain to
meet its climate targets and stifle the low carbon sector, which provided one
third of all UK growth between 2011-2012. Green jobs and investment are at risk
here. George Osborne needs to stop playing Britain’s JR Ewing and instead back
the shift to carbon free energy, which will create jobs and be cleaner, safer
and cheaper over time.”
ENDS
Greenpeace press office – 0207 865 8255
