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Portillo's climate claims
29 May 2001
Friends of the Earth today attacked Michael Portillo over his policy on tackling climate change. Asked about the dangers of global warming on BBC Radio 4's Election Call phone-in Mr Portillo said that “The best policy for reducing emissions from cars is to encourage people to have new cars with new engines that burn new types of fuel, and the higher you make the price of fuel, the less you are going to encourage people to change their cars.”
Charles Secrett, Director of Friends of the Earth said:
"Mr Portillo's ignorance is breathtaking. Making driving cheaper leads to more climate change emissions, not less. That is what happens in the real world. Cutting fuel tax certainly won't encourage people to buy more fuel efficient cars. If the Tories paused to think about their transport policy, rather than jumping on every gas-guzzling bandwagon, they would realise how illogical and dangerous their views really are.”
Friends of the Earth is challenging all prospective Mps to back 5 key green pledges. These include a 20% target for reducing CO2 by 2010 (on 1990 levels), and a trebling of the investment made in public transport and traffic calming, as an alternative to building new roads.
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jun 2008
