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Parties battle over green agenda Homes must be greener, says Brown
(about 2 hours later)
Chancellor Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron are battling for leadership of the green agenda as they outline rival visions. Chancellor Gordon Brown has called on households to do more to cut greenhouse gases by making homes better insulated and more fuel-efficient.
Mr Brown will say "Euroscepticism" makes it harder for the Tories to achieve global agreements on cutting carbon emissions. He told the BBC people had to "count the carbon as well as the pennies" and that tax breaks could be offered.
Mr Cameron is urging ministers to set annual, not just long-term, targets. The draft Climate Change Bill, due out on Tuesday, will call for a 60% cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
The environment is seen as a key issue for the two men expected to lead their parties into the next general election. But Conservative leader David Cameron urged ministers to set annual, not just long-term, targets.
We believe taxation is an extremely blunt instrument in terms of reducing carbon emissions British Airways class="" href="/1/hi/uk_politics/6439051.stm">Airlines oppose Tory plans class="" href="/1/hi/uk_politics/6439615.stm">Travellers give their views 'Balance'
The chancellor, speaking in London, will argue that it is essential to work through bodies such as the European Union to reach international agreements. The environment is seen as a key battleground ahead of the next general election.
But Mr Cameron, addressing a Conservative Party environmental summit, called for strict annual targets to be included in the government's Climate Change Bill, due to be launched on Tuesday. Mr Brown told the BBC: "We've got to get the balance right between taxation and regulation and we've got to recognise the importance of information."
'Timetable slip' TORY PROPOSALS Higher tax for frequent flyersFuel duty or VAT on domestic flightsFlight tax linked to carbon emissionsAnnual carbon dioxide targets
The bill will outline long-term goals to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050, but will not include annual targets. He added that better home insulation and other environmental improvements could save households £5 a week and reduce the UK's carbon output by five million tonnes.
"Without annual rate of change targets, it's too easy for the timetable to slip," Mr Cameron said. Standby switches on electrical goods had to go, as did old-fashioned lightbulbs, which were not as fuel efficient as the latest ones.
Mr Brown also said: "I know the British people want to do the right thing.
"We've got to help make it possible... If you take the home - by first eliminating standby, which is wasteful of electricity, then by removing the short-life electric bulbs and replacing them with long-life bulbs, then by completing insulation - and there are eight million homes to be insulated - we can make a huge difference."
LABOUR PROPOSALS Cut carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050National carbon budget, with quotas for industryNew homes to be carbon neutral within decade
He added: "I think we are going to have to cut the carbon as well as the pennies."
The European Union has agreed a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020, as compared with 1990 levels, or 30% if other developed nations agree to take similar action.
At the weekend, the Conservatives launched proposals including taxing frequent fliers and a tax on flights based on the level of carbon emissions.
In a speech in London earlier, Mr Cameron said: "Without annual rate-of-change targets, it's too easy for the timetable to slip.
"And once it has slipped, it's much harder to make up the difference later.""And once it has slipped, it's much harder to make up the difference later."
Chancellor Gordon Brown will try to seize back the green agenda But Mr Brown said Conservative policies on flights would do "huge damage to business and the consumer".
The speeches follow the Tories' launch of proposals including taxing frequent fliers and a tax on flights based on the level of carbon emissions. They were "ill-thought out and ill-considered", he added.
Mr Cameron told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that former US vice-president Al Gore - who starred in the Academy Award-winning environmental film An Inconvenient Truth - would address a meeting of Conservative frontbenchers on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Mr Brown is set to criticise the Tories' proposals as "ill-conceived" and "unworkable".
"Changes must be considered, costed, credible and consumer-friendly, not ill-conceived, short-termist, unworkable and unfair," he will say.
'No influence'
Referring to the Tories' approach to Europe, he will say: "Euroscepticism and continent-wide environmental action are at odds with each other.
"A government ambivalent about the UK's future in Europe and allied to the most reactionary forces in the European Parliament would have no credibility, no influence and no achievements."
Shadow chancellor George Osborne said agreements with the European Union had not led to a drop in emissions.
"We do need domestic action, alongside the international agreement in which that domestic action fits," he said.
Mr Brown will set out steps individuals and businesses can take to save energy.
But the Green Alliance, the group hosting Mr Brown's speech, criticised the government's green credentials.
HAVE YOUR SAY This 'global warming' rubbish is just stuff and nonsense put out as an excuse to raise taxes Rich Wintie, Bournemouth Send us your comments Battle for the green crownHAVE YOUR SAY This 'global warming' rubbish is just stuff and nonsense put out as an excuse to raise taxes Rich Wintie, Bournemouth Send us your comments Battle for the green crown
It said the Conservatives' plans for new aviation taxes showed that they were more radical than the government. Homes accounted for 25% of the UK's emissions, far more than those from aviation, Mr Brown said.
The chancellor has also come under pressure from former environment minister and Labour leadership contender Michael Meacher. The Green Alliance criticised the government's environmental credentials, saying Tory plans for new aviation taxes showed they were more radical.
Echoing Conservative calls, he urged the government to set binding annual emissions targets.
It must have "an explicit strategy" to deliver 60% cuts by 2050, he said.
"Anything less would be more cosmetic palliatives in the war against climate change."
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell told BBC News 24 the Conservative proposals for a package of taxes on air travel was a "step in the right direction", but questioned their ability to take tough decisions on the environment.Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell told BBC News 24 the Conservative proposals for a package of taxes on air travel was a "step in the right direction", but questioned their ability to take tough decisions on the environment.
He also backed a different direction to that taken by Mr Brown's recent increase in passenger air taxes. He said: "What you should do is not tax individual passengers but tax aircraft movements.
Sir Menzies said: "What you should do is not tax individual passengers but tax aircraft movements.
"The effect of that would be to persuade airlines, first of all to invest in aircraft which have lower emissions, and also to make sure that aircraft do not take off half-empty. The burden should be towards aircraft movement, not on individual passengers."