Brown's speech at the Labour Party Conference - Greenpeace response

Reacting to comments by Gordon Brown in his speech to the Labour conference, Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said:

"If the Climate Change Commission adopts a target of 80 per cent emissions cuts next month, as Brown is now demanding, that will represent a significant defeat for John Hutton. The Business Secretary wants to give the green light to a new unabated coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth as soon as possible, but a new tighter target could snooker him because coal is by far the most polluting fuel. We hope this means Hutton is losing the argument in Cabinet."

He continued:

"If Gordon Brown really wants to end the dictatorship of oil he should invest in rail instead of aviation and demand that car manufacturers make more efficient vehicles. If he really wants to create a million green collar jobs and slash emissions by 80 per cent he should make huge investments in renewables and energy efficiency and build the kind of new super-efficient power stations that are being rolled out across Scandinavia. We've had a decade of rhetoric from Labour on climate change, now it's time for action."

Greenpeace press office - 0207 865 8255