ACTION NOW FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 21st Oct 2009

Liberal Democrats in Durham are continuing their calls for action on the environment ahead of key votes in Parliament and at County Hall.

Today, the Liberal Democrats have secured a debate in the House of Commons on climate change. They will call for Parliament and Government to sign up to the 10:10 campaign and commit to achieving a 10% reduction in emissions by the end of 2010.

Carol Woods, who has led the 10:10 campaign in Durham is calling on Durham's Labour MP to vote in favour of the Lib Dem motion.

Carol said, "The Lib Dems endorsed this campaign at our recent conference and we are now calling on the whole public sector to sign up. Our MP should back this campaign and support this motion as we need strong leadership on the environment. There has been a shameful lack of action from this Government on green issues."

In a related vote, Liberal Democrats at County Hall have submitted a motion calling for the Council to sign up to the campaign. The Labour leadership has so far refused to do so, despite a written request from Carol Woods. The motion will be heard on November 4th.

The motion - put forward by Lib Dem Mark Wilkes and Carol Woods - not only calls on the Council to sign up, but also encourages all energy consumers in the region to work towards similar carbon reductions.

Mark Wilkes commented, "Immediate action is needed and that is what we are calling for. It is unacceptable for this Council to turn a blind eye to its responsibility on an issue as important as this. We have promised to keep the pressure up until the Labour leadership of this Council relents and agrees to back this campaign."

Carol Woods added, "At national level and at local level it is the Lib Dems that are leading the fight against climate change."