Blair - Bush Record on Environment is Disgraceful: Kennedy

3.29.01pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 8th Jun 2004

Europe must come together to prove an effective counter-weight to the United States on environmental issues, Charles Kennedy said today.

Mr Kennedy highlighted the need for politicians and world leaders to work at all levels to tackle pollution and climate change. Mr Kennedy expressed dismay that Tony Blair has not used his so-called 'special relationship' with George W Bush to persuade the United States to take a more responsible approach on the environment. Mr Kennedy was joined by Graham Watson MEP, Leader of the European Liberal Democrat Reform (ELDR) Group in the European Parliament, and the Party's newest MP Sarah Teather.

Publishing a raft of Liberal Democrat policies on the environment, Mr Kennedy said:

"In these election campaigns for the European Parliament, the local elections and in London, the Liberal Democrats have placed a high priority on the environment. Today we are publishing the environmental policies of our Liberal Democrat 'Green Ministers' - a Better Environment for a Better Life.

"The issue of climate change has been raised by the new film "The Day after Tomorrow". My message today is that people who are concerned about climate change can do something about it - they can vote Liberal Democrat - the day after tomorrow. On June 10th, voters in Britain can send a message to Mr. Blair on the environment - you can't just wish our environmental problems away.

"Tackling the environment begins at home. It is Liberal Democrat councils up and down the land who put the environment at the heart of planning decisions, and come up with innovative solutions for waste management and recycling.

"In the European elections, we can vote to join up with our European allies to make a real difference to the global environment.

"It is not an overstatement to say that as a planet we are facing an environmental disaster. 20,000 people died in Europe last year in the summer heat wave that the World Health Organisation linked directly to climate change.

"In Britain, the Office for National Statistics has suggested that 2,000 extra people may have died last August because of the extreme hot weather. Climate change is already a reality, not a far distant threat.

"If we are to really get to grips with the consequences of the way we are living, and start living more sustainable lives, action at the European level makes perfect sense. Because the actions of our neighbours directly affect our own environment and indeed by common agreement the EU institutions already set the framework for most British environmental legislation.

"Why? Because pollution respects no national border, marine ecosystems cross national waters, and many businesses that impact on the environment are regional and global players.

"Liberal Democrats MEPs are determined to ensure that European legislation on the environment is targeted, effective and affordable. But even European action alone cannot turn things around alone.

"When the Bush Administration - representing a country with 5% of the world's population but accounting for a quarter of all CO2 emissions - refuses to take seriously even the proposition of climate change, it is gambling with all our futures.

"If the Prime Minister's special relationship with Mr. Bush is to mean anything, it must be used to bring the US into line on the environment. So today we are saying Britain should be standing shoulder to shoulder with Europe on the Environment.

"It is time the European Union stepped into the vacuum that the US is leaving and leads the push to raise environmental standards world-wide. The environment should be a priority for Britain in Brussels. A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to ensure that it is."

Leader of the Lib Dem Group in the European Parliament, Graham Watson, said:

"Some people are presenting this election as if it is going to determine Britain's future membership of the European Union. In fact, it determines what kind of Europe we want to live in.

"The EU exists to tackle challenges which no one country can deal with on its own - challenges like the environment, people trafficking, and internationally organised terrorism and crime.

"A vote for the eurosceptics is a vote to pull a blanket over our heads and wish that these challenges would go away. A vote for Labour is a vote for American leadership in Iraq, and US dominance in international relations. A vote for the Lib Dems is a vote to make the EU work properly, for Britain and the wider world.

"Warm words for the environment mean nothing if you don't have the political will to follow it through. In the European Parliament Liberal Democrat MEPs are at the top of the league for supporting environmental legislation while Labour and the Tories languish far below."

"Thanks to the votes of Liberal Democrat MEPs, GM products in Europe will have the world's strictest labelling requirements, European governments will have to honour new targets for renewable energy, and polluters will have to pay for the damage they cause to the environment."