The Environmental Industries Commission has welcomed Chris Huhne’s comments on the protection of environmental regulations from the red tape challenge. To remove environmental regulations would be bad for the green economy and bad for the environment.  Chris Huhne is right to challenge the Governments threat to scrapping environmental protection.

As Recycle Week (20 – 26 June) gets underway, a new survey shows that more than three quarters (76 per cent) of people in Wales are ‘committed recyclers.’*

 
Ministers from the UK, Republic of Ireland, The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man have this week signed up to a historic deal to cooperate on exploiting the major wind and marine resource in and around the islands.

 
Government plans to launch a consultation on mandatory energy efficiency upgrades are welcome provided they are coupled with a targeted VAT reduction on the price of installation.

ZSL’s London Zoo’s main gift shop next to its new exhibit ‘Penguin Beach’ has been extended to double its size and the extended area of the shop will benefit from the energy-saving properties of Dow Floormateä  insulation supplied by Panel Systems Ltd

BIS has just revealed, as part of the Budget’s “Plan for Growth”, that all of Britain's 278 environmental laws are on their list of "red tape" regulations to now be considered for the axe. The Clean Air Act and the Climate Change Act are among the packages of environmental safeguards included in the Government’s "red tape challenge" to establish which regulations restrict business in the UK.

Adrian Wilkes, Executive Chairman, EIC said  “BIS’ latest deregulatory threat is dangerously misguided and poses a potentially major threat to the UK’s environmental industry – bizarrely at a time when the Chancellor is promoting green job creation in his “Plan for Growth”

The public and regulated businesses can submit deregulation suggestions - the "onus" will be on ministers to make the case for keeping a regulation recommended for cutting!

RenewableUK Cymru, part of the UK’s leading renewable energy association, has published a manifesto for the Welsh general election calling for the implementation of dynamic new policies to generate more wind, wave and tidal energy. 

Harvard Engineering is pleased to announce it has won a prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise, within the Innovation Category.  Harvard have been awarded the Queen’s Award for their innovative wireless street light management system, LeafNut, which is helping local councils around the UK cut energy usage and reduce carbon emissions.
LeafNut allows Local Authorities to cleverly manage their street lights without having to controversially ‘switch off’. There has been much adverse publicity about Local Authorities deciding to switch off street lights due to expenditure cutbacks, particularly following last October’s Chancellor’s Spending Review. The system has proved to be a popular, sensible and safe option for councils trying to reduce their carbon footprint whilst ensuring there is adequate lighting on roads and public areas.