Election Battle Heats Up

With just 9 days to go until voting day, the three party leaders; Nick Clegg, David Cameron Gordon Brown, are out doing everything in their power to claim the crucial votes of the public.

Today Nick Clegg launched the new Liberal Democrat environmental manifesto. In this Clegg declared that if the Lib Dems came into government, that they will invest 3.1bn in a new green economic stimulus package which ”plans to slash energy use and improve energy efficiency”. Clegg continued by dismissing the Labour party as having thirteen years to deliver on the environment and failing. He later claimed that the Liberal Democrats are the only solution to solving the current environmental crisis and ended his speech by encouraging voters to “Choose the only party that in the wake of the economic crisis is setting out a credible vision for a new and sustainable economy.”

Conservative leader, David Cameron has recently released his plans, that he claims will relieve the environmental crisis we’re in. These plans include; setting a legal limit on the amount of carbon emissions that power stations can release, creating four ‘carbon capture and storage’ equipped power plants. However, what is going to undoubtedly be one of the Conservatives toughest proposals to achieve is their promise to deliver a 10 percent cut in central government carbon emissions within 12 months of coming to office; an ambitious claim by David Cameron but one that may prove to make them more favorable to voters over the two opposing parties.

Finally, the leader of the Labour party, Gordon Brown addressed young people at a mobilisation event in Central London today. He started by suggesting that it is a myth that youth do not care about politics and recognized that the media encourage this myth. However, he claimed that he thinks the young population care more about the world around them then any other group of people. He continued that all of Labour’s policies are rooted in fairness and that those of his opponents are wrong and unfair. Later on in his speech he announced his green manifesto, it included commitments such as “making sure that the more than one hundred countries that are signed up to action will come together to agree a framework for reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2050″. This is a massive commitment to make, however if it was successful, it would have a huge benefiting effect on the environment. He also claimed that he will help out low-income families with their energy bills.

So, after 13 years of a Labour government, do the public want change to the policies of the Conservative or Liberal Democrats? Only the decisions made by the voters on May 6th will decide. And in such a vital time for the economy and environment, the choice made in under two weeks by the public will prove decisive for the success of relieving the crisis in the current recession and global warming.