NEWS RELEASE – Bridge Tolls

BRIDGE TOLLS BILL THE WRONG SOLUTION

Scrapping all charges on the Forth and Tay bridges will increase congestion, pollution and increase Scotland’s levels of climate wrecking exhaust fumes Greens said today in response to the announcement that a Bill to scrap the charges will be the first Bill lodged in the new parliamentary session.

Greens accept that the current charging system could be fairer, for example buses are charged more than HGVs, and cars are charged the same regardless of the time of day or how many travellers are in the vehicle. Greens want a system of ’smart charging’ to be introduced to tackle congestion and to encourage car sharing and public transport use. A report to the Executive just two weeks ago warned of increased traffic levels, congestion and pollution as a result of removing all charges. (1) The Executive also announced at the same time that traffic levels across Scotland were running at their highest level ever. Congestion and traffic jams cost the UK economy over £20bn per year according to the CBI.

Patrick Harvie MSP said: “The Green Party has consistently argued that abolishing all charges is not in the long term interests of commuters, and that it flies in the face of the Government’s climate change policy. Instead smart, flexible charges could give an incentive for car-sharing and public transport; this would have been fairer and more sensible. The Government’s policy will result in more congestion for drivers and will hasten damage to the Forth Bridge which so many people depend on.” For more information contact 0790 99 33 074

Notes to editors 1. The toll impact study, which was commissioned by the previous administration, claimed their removal would see the number of vehicles using the Forth road bridge rise by around 10% and traffic on the Tay bridge go up by as much as 40%. “The removal of tolls would lead to increased global and local traffic emissions,” according to the report, carried out by consultants Steer Davies Gleave, who concluded that the charges should be retained. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Transport/Road/toll-bridges/TollImpactStudy

PRESS RELEASE – Scottish environment in 2011

GREENS BACK CALLS FOR TOUGHER GOVERNMENT ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION

Green MSPs today backed Scotland’s environmental coalition, Scottish Environment LINK, which has published a document setting out some key challenges for the SNP government to deliver over the next four years.(1) In particular, the coalition calls for tougher action on climate change and repeats calls for annual targets to reduce climate pollution, to halt airport and road traffic growth and to resist moves by Scotland’s local authorities to build incinerators to deal with Scotland’s waste of valuable resources. The Link report, ‘Scotland 2011: Scottish Environment LINK’s Challenge to the New Scottish Government’, also calls for bus and rail fares to be capped and for action to boost walking and cycling. On wildlife, the report calls for improved conservation and increased funding to tackle the loss of biodiversity. Patrick Harvie MSP said: “There are some great ideas in this paper from LINK, including many which we have been campaigning for and on which the Government could act tomorrow – ending subsidy for aviation expansion, and ruling out new incinerators for example. Other work will take longer, like bringing down the cost of public transport and improving its quality, or ensuring the future of Scotland’s renewable energy supply. But there’s no reason we can’t start cutting the emissions which cause climate change right away – political parties just need to accept that they can’t meet new environmental targets by pursuing the same old policies.”

Robin Harper MSP said: “All parties must recognise our dependence on the environment to guarantee Scotland’s social and economic wellbeing. We strongly support LINK’s calls on the Scottish government to take urgent action to tackle these challenges.”(2) For more information contact 0790 99 33 074 Notes to editors 1.To download a copy of the report go to:http://www.scotlink.org/pdf/LINK_Vision%20_Scotland%20_2011.pdf LINK Press release is available here:http://www.scotlink.org/pdf/VisionpressreleaseSept07.pdf 2.Green MSP Robin Harper has called on all MSPs to support the LINK campaign. *S3M-402 Robin Harper: Scotland 2011: Scottish Environment LINK’s Challenge to the New Government—That the Parliament welcomes the publication of Scotland 2011: Scottish Environment LINK’s challenge to the new government which sets out Scottish Environment LINK’s vision for 2011 and the steps that government needs to take in order to realise that vision; recognises our dependence on our environment to guarantee Scotland’s social and economic wellbeing, and, conscious of the dual threats that climate change and biodiversity loss pose to the wellbeing and quality of life of current and future generations of Scots, calls on the Scottish government to take urgent action to tackle these challenges, taking into account the action plan proposed in this document by Scottish Environment LINK