Pollution Policy Guide

Green Liberal Democrats
Pollution Policy Guide

Pollution :
From Carbon Emissions To Particulates To Neonicitonoids

Pollution in its many forms affects us all adversely.

The scale of our civilisation is such that there is virtually no place on land, sea or air where our impact is not felt: A soup of plastic particles floats in garbage patches in our oceans; soot from factories is landing on Greenland's icecap, accelerating its melt; Ozonedestroying and greenhouse gases have started to break down the structure of our atmosphere; chemicals used to maximise food yields are turning rivers into toxic sludge and the sea floors into deserts.

LibDem policy:

• PP5 - Reclaiming the Countryside (pub 1994)
  4.0.2 In protecting the physical environment, rural policy needs to tackle problems of pollution, water supply, soil erosion and degradation, damage to fragile ecosystems and wildlife habitats, and conservation of valuable landscape features. Our aim is conservation, not preservation, which requires active management of the countryside. Thriving rural communities are therefore an integral part of this commitment to sustainability.
• PP58 Conserving the Future (pub 2003)
  Liberal Democrats would use economic instruments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from energy use at lowest economic cost.
• PP82 Zero Carbon Britain: Taking a Global Lead (pub 2007)
  1.0.8 A reduction in emissions of the magnitude that we are advocating will only happen if developed countries such as the UK take the lead by cutting their own emissions. We have to show by example that that we can combine prosperity and care for the planet. Developed countries start from a higher level of emissions and are responsible for more of the carbon in the atmosphere than developing countries. It follows that the objective of climate change strategy over the longer term must be to make the UK carbon neutral.
• PP93 - Our Natural Heritage: Policies on the Natural Environment (pub 2009)
  All of section 4 has relevance
  4.0.1 Liberal Democrats believe that our quality of life is dependant on the quality of our environment.
  We will not only work to maintain and enhance it but will give people more access to and influence over it. We believe everyone should be able to share in the enjoyment of our green and pleasant land.
• PP102 - A New Purpose For Politics: Quality of Life (pub 2011)
  5.6.3 We will make the promotion of quality of life the central goal of the planning framework. As planning frameworks, at all levels, are reviewed, they should incorporate the consideration of factors which research tells us do have a demonstrable impact in improving wellbeing.
• PP109 - Green Growth And Jobs: Transition To A Zero Carbon Britain (pub 2013)
  4.4.4 Liberal Democrats would permit measured shale gas extraction, ensuring that regulations protecting water and land pollution and local environmental quality are strictly enforced at a national level. Planning permission decisions should remain with local authorities however, and local communities should be fully consulted over local extraction, and fully compensated for all damage to the local landscape.
• PP113 Prosperous, Sustainable and Secure: Renewing the EU for the 21st Century (pub 2013)
  5.0.1 The impact of human behaviour on the sustainability of our planet is the single most pressing challenge of our times. Unaddressed, environmental degradation and climate change threaten our wellbeing, our way of life and perhaps our very existence. Nation states cannot hope to deal with such challenges alone. Without the EU, Britain's ability to promote and achieve greater sustainability would be pitifully weak.

Challenge Magazine Articles:

• 2008 Spring p8 Towards Greener Living
• 2008 Summer p1 Mainstreaming Environmental Action
• 2008 Summer p9 Babies, Biofuels and Bathwater
• 2008 Autumn p15 Tidal Barrages: The Debate Hots Up
• 2009 Spring p13 Can We Mobilise A Carbon Army?
• 2009 Summer p4 A Local Green Way Out Of Recession
• 2009 Summer p19 The Hydrogen Economy in Practice
• 2010 Spring p22 The Path To Transition
• 2010 Summer p5 Will Cars Ever be Green?
• 2010 Summer p10 Europe's Energy Revolution
• 2011 Spring p10 The Grid Gets A Brain
• 2011 Summer p11 The Big Switch
• 2013 Summer p22 Bees in Crisis

Resources:

• Zero Carbon Britain http://www.zerocarbonbritain.org/
• The Committee on Climate Change http://www.theccc.org.uk/carbonbudgets
• DECC Press release http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn11_41/pn11_41.aspx
• The Carbon Trust http://www.carbontrust.co.uk
• ERPHO emissions reduction in the NHS http://www.erpho.org.uk/viewResource.aspx?id=20385
• NHS Sustainable Development Unit http://www.sduhealth.org.uk/
• The Energy Saving Trust http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/
• The 2050 Game http://tinyurl.com/nnm7w78
• 10:10 cutting carbon 10% at a time http://www.1010global.org/uk
• The Young People's Trust For the Environment http://www.ypte.org.uk/environmental/pollution/32
• EcoWatch http://ecowatch.com/
• The Natural Resources Defence Council Water Pollution http://www.nrdc.org/water/

This is downloadable as a PDF (last updated 2014)