Huhne opposes scrapping of environmental regulations

Environmental update 24/06/2011

Chris Huhne, the Energy Secretary, has spoken of his concerns about the government’s Red Tape Challenge.

The Challenge website lists a host of regulations which are up for consideration to be abolished or amended.

Amongst the regulations listed are 278 environmental ones, including the Climate Change Act. The Act, according to Huhne,’underpins almost everything government does on climate change.’

Huhne spoke at the recent Social Liberal Forum’s conference of his opposition to the proposed scrapping of green regulations.

“I will fight the fixation with deregulation and scrapping rules just because they are rules on offer from some right-wing idealogues," he said.

“Whatever the good intent, we have mistakenly given the impression that an exercise designed to scrap unnecessary minor bureaucratic hurdles is now placing the cornerstone of climate protection under threat.

“Of course this is nonsense. Let me assure you: there is a very good case for our key regulations protecting the environment to stay,” he added.

Huhne went on to say that, whilst he agreed that scrapping one regulation in exchange for a new one being rolled out is a good idea in theory, this will not work ‘if there are no old regulations of equal impact to scrap.’