Jonathan Bartley: “Increasing road capacity discourages the use of public transport and puts thousands of acres of countryside under threat”
The Green Party has reiterated its call for the government to scrap its £27bn road building programme and all airport expansion, which severely undermines efforts to cut air pollution and carbon emissions.
Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley has said the government’s road building programme, announced in last year’s budget [1], is completely at odds with the UK’s role as chair of this year’s COP and completely undermines any efforts to show global leadership there.
Meanwhile, the party has also backed calls from leading international climate scientists on the government to halt the expansion of Leeds Bradford Airport [2], which was recently approved by Leeds City Council. [3]
Bartley said: “It makes no sense to talk about climate ambition as a priority and carry on down this damaging path.
“Increasing road capacity will lead to a direct increase in both air pollution and emissions, while discouraging the use of public transport and putting thousands of acres of countryside under threat. Meanwhile, allowing the expansion of airports such as Leeds Bradford shows up the government’s alleged climate ambition for what it is – nothing more than greenwashing.
“The government needs to urgently rethink and cancel projects that encourage high carbon-emitting means of transport and invest instead in a reliable public transport network as well as walking and cycling so wherever people live they are not forced to use a car.”