[D66] Boris Johnson’s climate change record

[A.OUT]

newscientist.com:

New prime minister Boris Johnson’s climate change record

Boris Johnson has become the new prime minister of the UK after winning 
the Conservative party leadership campaign. Here's what Johnson has said 
and done about climate change
Earth 4 June 2019 , updated 23 July 2019

By Jacob Aron

Boris Johnson won 66 per cent of the vote by the Conservative party 
membership with an 87.4 per cent turnout


With stints as mayor of London and the UK’s foreign secretary, Johnson 
has never held a government position specifically related to science and 
technology, but he has often spoken out on matters like climate change 
and the environment.

As mayor of London, Johnson shrank the city’s congestion charge zone, 
counter to efforts to reduce carbon emissions and air pollution, but he 
did encourage cycling by rolling-out a public bike hire scheme. He said 
in 2016 that he wished he had built “more segregated cycling routes for 
London.”

In 2013 he announced plans for an Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), but 
was criticised for delaying the implementation period until after he had 
left power and for limiting the affected area to the Congestion Charge 
Zone. His successor Sadiq Khan implemented a much wider reaching version 
of the ULEZ which will eventually include all vehicles within the north 
and south circular roads.

In a 2014 interview with New Scientist, during his time as mayor, 
Johnson said that he thought the London of 2034 would no longer have any 
vehicles powered by fossil fuels. He also said London should 
“definitely, absolutely” have a nuclear power station, though it is 
unclear if these remarks were intended seriously.

Johnson has generally voted against measures to prevent climate change. 
In 2013, during a snowy UK winter, he highlighted a factually incorrect 
claim by Piers Corbyn (a weather forecaster who, coincidently, is the 
brother of Johnson’s would-be rival, the current Labour leader Jeremy 
Corbyn) that low solar activity could lead to a mini ice age.

He came out against the expansion of the UK’s largest airport, Heathrow, 
though ultimately missed a key vote to block it as he was in Afghanistan 
conducting his duties as foreign secretary.

During the BBC’s Conservative party leadership debate, Boris was 
challenged about the plans to expand Heathrow airport and said he 
continued to have reservations about a third runway, and claimed that 
London’s CO2 emissions were cut during his time in power.

During the Brexit campaign, Johnson famously proposed spending £350 
million a week on the National Health Service, paid for with money saved 
by exiting the European Union. This figure has been widely disputed.

Read more: 
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2205441-new-prime-minister-boris-johnsons-climate-change-record/#ixzz685cJh74t