POLLUTION FIGURES ARE THE LOWEST SINCE MONITORING BEGAN

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 Thursday, January 31, 2019 - 11:30

Trevor Hammond has deliberately tried to twist the Government’s press release on emissions, as he has no answer to the points made, says Government. Contrary to Mr Hammond’s own comments, which are anything but constructive in spirit, the Minister for the Environment has on many occasions commented that more needs to be done and is actively engaged in dialogue with NGOs and industry and in action to improve air quality further.

 Despite the challenges, never has so much been achieved.

A statement adds: The ‘independent expert assessments’ of air quality to which he refers, do not stand up to scientific scrutiny, as has been pointed out before, but as Mr Hammond clearly does not understand. He refers to the success achieved over the past few years in improving air quality as ‘mediocre’, ignoring the fact that pollution figures are the lowest since monitoring began, that burning of fuel at our power station is down, and that the new LNG power station will reduce emissions tremendously, to almost zero for some substances. These achievements are hardly mediocre. Mr Hammond’s understanding of science clearly is.

The Minister for Environment and Climate Change John Cortes commented: “No-one will believe Trevor when he suggests that I am not willing to engage in reviewing any activity that may have a negative effect on the environment, so I don’t understand why he is suggesting that I am reluctant to do so.

"It seems that he has run out of arguments and is clutching at the ridiculous. My battle for environmental improvement started decades ago and I will continue working just as hard while I am a Minister, and beyond. It is most unfair for Trevor to belittle the progress being made and for him to fail to acknowledge it in a constructive way. I hope he will one day, especially as improvements continue.”

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