Letter to Bucks Herald on Lib Dem plans for carbon-free Britain

Dear Sir:

Today's primary schoolchildren in Aylesbury and the Vale could be living in an entirely petrol-free environment when they reach their 40s.

By that time vehicles could be powered entirely by electricity, hydrogen fuel cells, and whatever other pollution free energy sources come forward.

We in the Liberal Democrats think we owe it to our children and young people to take up this challenge. It's part of our policy to bring about a carbon free Britain by the year 2050, which our party announced last month (August) as the boldest environmental initiative yet from the major parties. Our party will be shall be campaigning hard on this issue locally and nationally over the coming months and years.

Few people doubt the need for radical action to confront global warming. It's time now to set very serious targets. We already have the technology -- electric and fuel cell vehicles are running on the streets of Britain today; zero energy homes have been built. Now we need political will, at local and national level, to make them mainstream.

We believe we are going further than other parties in this package of measures. It includes a commitment to 100 per cent carbon free, non-nuclear electricity by 2050; using green taxes to make the polluter pay, using the revenue to cut income tax; introducing 'green mortgages' to enable people to make their homes more energy efficient. We want major improvements to the rail network and the construction of a high speed rail line, paid for by tolling lorries on motorways. And a target of zero carbon-emitting all new cars by 2040.

We have plans to tackle carbon emissions from every part of the economy: transport, energy, housing, offices and factories.

Liberal Democrats would be voting on this issue at the party conference this month (September), and delegates from the Buckingham party will give it strong support.

The government may say we are idealistic, but current policy is getting us nowhere. We need something dramatic, and soon. Nobody told President Kennedy it couldn't be done when he announced in 1963 that America would put a man on the moon by the end of the 60s. We need similar boldness from Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Yours sincerely,

Press Officer

Buckingham Constituency Liberal Democrats .