Conservatives promise green initiatives ahead of UK general election

Britain’s Conservative opposition party promised that it will establish a government-supported bank and will offer tax-free savings accounts if the party wins in 2010’s general election. George Osbone, the party’s economics spokesman, said that the Conservatives will propose schemes that would help curb carbon emissions in government agencies and pay households who recycle waste.

The pledges of Osborne are believed to highlight the Conservatives’ green qualifications, as political parties prepare for the election. The Conservative party have maintained a lead for about two years over Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labour Party.

During his speech in London, Osbone swore a green investment bank that would gather all money from various government programmes to help new energy companies. He also introduced tax-free green savings accounts for up to £10,200 a year that would let households fund companies seeking to lessen pollution.

However, the Labour party accused the Conservatives of blocking government initiatives in the past that reduce carbon emissions and create greener energy sources. The Labours informed that local Conservative councils had earlier vetoed 60 per cent of the onshore wind farm planning applications. They further said that Conservative leader David Cameron even vowed before to slash the annual budget of the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

Meanwhile, Osborne had pledged to back a scheme that would cut carbon emissions by 10 per cent from government buildings and transport vehicles to generate power savings worth £300 million. However, the Liberal Democrat’s spokesperson on environment and energy, Simon Hughes, informed that Osborne failed to support a similar project proposed by the Liberal Democrat party earlier.