Green Alliance Says £12 Billion Could be Saved by Ending Support for High Carbon Industries

It now seems that Green Alliance has come out and said that £12 billion could possibly be saved by ending support for high carbon industries such as the aviation industry and building fewer roads. Ministers would be able to save this £12 billion of public spending over four years by clamping down on tax breaks and support for polluting oil exploration and transport.

Now that all three major parties are committed to cutting the projected £178 billion budget deficit and to enter into a low carbon economy, a report by the high level Green Alliance thinktank argues that many spending cuts could achieve both ends. However, the most controversial suggestion could be to halve the £10 billion national and regional roads spending budget.

Of course, other proposals include ending the zero value added tax rate for aviation and shipping. They also suggest reducing tax breaks on oil and gas exploration and the Climate Change Levy for big energy users such as cement and aluminum companies.

The report even suggests that government departments should step up energy efficiency improvements for buildings and vehicles to save £1.5 billion over four years. This is actually about one eighth of what they spend on fuel.

A Green Alliance associate and author of the report, Chirs Hewett, said that apart from pledges to increase energy savings, none of these polices had been explicitly outlined by either the Labour Government or the Conservatives, who under David Cameron’s leadership have worked hard on positioning themselves as a much greener party. Hewett did dismiss suggestions that the recommendations would be too politically controversial, with the risk of upsetting powerful industries and prompting public backlash if they led to more expensive travel or fuel.