Labour

Government's breathtaking hypocrisy over EU tar sands controls - Flint and Eagle

Caroline Flint MP, Labour's Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, and Maria Eagle MP, Labour's Shadow Transport Secretary, have responded to reports of the Government’s opposition to EU controls on tar sands.
   
Caroline Flint said:

"The European Union has every right to identify the environmental impact of oil extracted from tar sands in Canada and elsewhere. Experts agree that oil from tar sands is a ‘dirty fuel’. It would be extraordinary if the UK Government were to support further delay on this sensitive environmental question, especially as the Liberal Democrats called it ‘environmentally damaging’ before the last election.

"The Government should come clean and tell the British people that it will support this EU proposal.  Any other stance would show that they are out of touch and not serious about tackling climate change. After failing to stand up to the vested interests of the energy giants, the Government can not now let big oil hold sway on the issue of tar sands."

Maria Eagle said:

"It is no surprise that people who care about the environment feel so personally betrayed by Norman Baker and the Liberal Democrats over the Fuel Quality Directive. By opposing the labeling of tar sands as highly polluting the Liberal Democrats have yet again made a mockery of their claim to be part of the greenest government ever. Instead of rolling over in the face of pressure and lobbying from vested interests, Norman Baker should stand by his principles and take action against fuel derived from tar sands which comes at such a high price to the environment.

"The Department for Transport has already broken the Coalition Agreement pledge to support a national recharging network for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles while overseeing massive cuts to local bus services and scaling back funding to support the switch to cycling and walking. With their failure to support action on highly polluting fuels, the Government has yet again shown that it has no real commitment to reducing surface transport’s contribution to climate change, despite it accounting for one-fifth of our domestic carbon emissions."