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GREEN EURO-MPs BEST ON ENVIRONMENT, SAY FOE |
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UKIP AND CONSERVATIVES THE 'DIRTY MEN OF EUROPE'
UK Green Party MEPs have the best voting record on environmental decisions at the European Parliament, according to study published by a consortium of NGOs today (i).
MEPs Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert were named joint 1st out of the
EU's 685 MEPs, according to research
published by Europe's largest environmental group Friends of the Earth.
Dr Lucas, South-East England's only Green Party MEP and a member of the
European Parliament's Environment Committee, said: "Of course I am
delighted to have been named joint best MEP on the environment - but I
am hardly surprised. Protecting the environment is a key element of
sustainability and, as such, is a core Green value and central to what
we are all about. The EU is responsible for almost 90 per cent of all
environmental legislation in the UK - and Greens in the European
Parliament are working hard to ensure the environment remains a key EU
priority and this legislation offers the best protection possible."
Jean and Caroline each scored 100 per cent - as they consistently voted
for environmental improvements on ten key issues chosen by
environmental organisations: agriculture, air pollution, chemicals, GM
food, liability, nuclear power, recycling, renewables and transport.
Gloucestershire Green challenges Lib Dem "Green" record
The Liberal Democrats came second to the Greens nationally - with a
rating of 99 per cent on the votes surveyed. Labour scored 70 per cent,
the Conservatives 13 per cent and the UK Independence Party 0 per cent
- having failed to vote for a single environmental improvement measured
in the survey.
Carol Kambites, Gloucestershire based Green Party Euro candidate said:
"The Liberal Democrat record on these ten issues analysed today was
almost as good as the Greens - but a deeper analysis would have shown
their attempts - often in league with the Conservatives - to undermine
environmental protection.
"They have, for example, opposed regulations keeping sewage out of our
bathing water, arsenic pollution out of the air we breath, greenhouse
gases out of the atmosphere and packaging out of landfill sites. At the
end of the day a party whose economic policies are rooted in the desire
to see ever more GDP growth - and enhanced free trade between nations -
cannot really claim to be taking sustainable development seriously or
making environmental protection a priority."
Notes to Editors
(i) Full details of the research can be found at www.EU-votewatch.org
UK MEPs came bottom of the league - scoring an average of just 49 per
cent on voting for environmental protection - compared with Danish MEPs
who came top with 84 per cent. Percentage scores are calculated on the
number of times MEPs voted positively - out of the total number of
times they voted. The NGOs involved in selecting the key issues and
votes were Friends of the Earth, WWF, Greenpeace and Birdlife
(ii) About Carol Kambites: She is a teacher, at present in her fourth
year of a PhD at the University of Gloucestershire, researching
understandings and implementation of sustainable development at a
local level. Carol is also a Stroud Town Councillor and been involved
in the Green Party for over 25 years.
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