| NATURAL LAW
PARTY WESSEX Dorset, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Email:
nlpwessex@bigfoot.com |
75 Fairfield
Rd Tel: 01962 852122 |
NEWS RELEASE
Dorset Floods Expose Short-sighted Energy Policy
Tax on fuel has been squandered
Date:
8 November 2000
The Wessex Natural Law Party has called for greater investment in non-polluting forms of energy as floods in Dorset drive home the real costs of global warming caused by the use of oil and other fossil fuels.
According to party spokesman Mark Griffiths, "All the time they are unable to prevent problems governments will always be looking for extra ways to raise tax. If it is not fuel it will be something else. The real issue in the current debate about fuel is that our reliance on carbon based energy is destroying our environment and eventually the billions of pounds worth of damage caused by global warming is going to crush our economy as well. It is time to take action - constructive action. Road blockades will produce nothing of any long term use."
Failure to invest
The Natural Law Party accuses successive governments of squandering the massive revenues they have received from fuel taxation without adequate reinvestment of those funds into developing a non-fossil fuel based energy economy.
"Dramatic changes in the way we manage energy are already technically possible. The technology for solar power and non-polluting hydrogen powered road vehicles is already there - why is the necessary public investment not being made in order to bring forward the roll-out date for this technology? We urgently need to deploy solutions which do not violate natural law", says Mr Griffiths.
Create health not deaths
It is estimated that air pollution - of which vehicle emissions are the major contributor - is responsible for 24,000 premature deaths in the UK every year. One study has revealed that just the cost of treating illness associated with traffic pollution in Austria, France and Switzerland amounted to a staggering 1.7% of their gross domestic product. The situation in the UK is likely to be similar.
Create wealth in Dorset
As the Piddle and Frome rivers burst their banks in Dorset the Wessex Natural Law Party points out that a switch away from fossil fuel to renewable sources of energy will not only help to prevent such environmental problems but will also provide a boost to the local economy including farming and manufacturing. Energy from biomass and solar technology can provide opportunities for business development in Dorset, whilst at the same time reducing threats to national security from any future interruptions in oil supplies from the inherently unstable Middle East.
Notes for editors:
Premature deaths from air pollution - see http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/medical_notes/newsid_336000/336738.stm
Cost of treating traffic pollution illness in Austria, France and Switzerland - see
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_905000/905016.stmFor more information on hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles - see:
http://www.fuelcellworld.org/background.htmlMark Griffiths BSc FRICS FAAV can be contacted on 01962 852122 or at nlpwessex@bigfoot.com.
