Environmental campaign groups have had a mixed reaction to Gordon Brown's 2007 Budget
March 28, 2007
The WWF have produced an environmental report card for the Chancellor, which concluded that while the Chancellor passed his environmental test, he did so with a "must try harder" B- "Eco grade" overall.
The report card was published with the headline, "A good budget - but it's not Gordon Green yet," and graded the Chancellor's Budget 2007 measures as follows:
- Fuel duty: Eco grade, B+
- Vehicle excise duty: Eco grade, C
- Aviation: Eco grade, Fail
- VAT on energy efficient appliances: Eco grade, B+
- Energy Efficiency Commitment: Eco grade, C
- Energy performance certificates: Eco grade, C-
- Pensioners' energy efficiency grants: Eco grade, B
- Smart meters: Eco grade, B+
- Light bulbs: Eco grade, A
- Plans to phase out stand-by on electrical goods: Eco grade, B+
- Micro-generation: Eco grade, B-
- Carbon capture and storage: Eco grade, A-
Friends of the Earth describe the Budget as a marked improvement on previous years and cited elements such as the the rise in fuel duty being a step in the right direction, especially if they were to be built on year after year.
However, the group stated that it was "still insufficient to deal with environmental challenges" and that, set against the urgency and scale of the task, the Budget overall fell a long way short of what was needed.
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