Ed Atkins, Environment, Energy and Resilience (PhD)
In this election, rhetoric reigns supreme over policy pledges and manifestos. The result is the placing of certain story lines at the centre of election strategy, often at the expense of policy. We have all heard about Ed Miliband’s weirdness, Grant Shapps’ alter-ego and Nicola Sturgeon’s problematic Scottishness – but we are yet to hear about the environment.
Whilst the Green Surge may have pointed to the centrality of the environment in many of our political views and desires, it appears that the environment pledges of 2015’s manifestos have become embroiled in political decisions, electoral tactics and the influence of other policy areas. The pledges of the parties all demonstrate the close-relation of energy and ecology with the key political issues of this election – such as housing, the cost-of-living and the EU. In this light, we must question how many of these policies are of a purely environmental nature – and are not social, economic and political moves dressed up as environmental pledges.