This morning, the bookies were offering odds of 16-1 that Gordon Brown would be wearing a green tie. Had you taken them on, you would have lost your money. In the aftermath of Mr Brown’s 11th budget speech at 12.30pm today, Ben Nickell from GreenSteps takes a quick look at the green measures outlined. We’ll let you decide if you think Mr Brown has turned green.
The concrete measures announced included the following points:
1) There will be no stamp duty for ‘zero carbon’ homes up to £500,000 in value up to the year 2012. (However, what constitutes a ‘zero carbon’ home in the eyes of the treasury is a contentious point.)
2) Grants of £300 – £4000 will be available for pensioners to insulate their homes and install central heating.
3) There will be a 50% increase in the grants available for microgeneration technology.
4) Landfill tax per tonne will increase by £8 a year to 2011.
5) The most polluting cars will pay £300 a year in excise duty, rising to £400 in 2008.
The least polluting cars will pay only £35 not the current £50.
6) £50m will be given to a 10 country initiative to save the African rainforest.
In addition to this, the chancellor mentioned some further initiatives:
1) OFGEM has been instructed to look at simplifying the process by which homes with microgeneration technology can sell electricity back to the grid.
2) The Government has been working with banks and lenders to develop mortgages for immediate capital investment in energy saving measures
3) Mr Brown said he had written to EU finance ministers to ask for a cut in VAT on eco-friendly products from 17.5% to 5%
4) The bio-fuels target is for all fuel to contain 5% bio-fuel mix by 2010 and 10% by 2020
Leader of the Tory party, David Cameron, was quick to point out that the current government has presided over an increase in CO2 emissions since 1997 and that green taxes as a proportion of income are lower now than when they came into power.
So, do you think Mr Brown is Mr Green?