Enviros Claim Brexit Will Be ‘Catastrophic’ for Nature
Environmentalists are freaking out that Britain voted in favor of leaving the European Union on Thursday — something activists claim will be “catastrophic” for the environment.
British environmentalists took to Twitter to vent their fears about leaving the EU after the “Brexit” vote. Activists have been arguing for months that leaving the EU would allow “climate deniers” to gain more power and undo environmental protections.
From an environmental perspective this is catastrophic. Fight now on to ensure EU standards maintained and cooperation on climate continues.
— Sam Lowe (@SamuelMarcLowe) June 24, 2016
We say that UK's out vote is a 'red alert' for the environment #EURef https://t.co/jJL5Wt3zis
— Friends of the Earth (@friends_earth) June 24, 2016
Greenpeace U.K. activists lambasted the vote, and urged others to pressure members of Parliament to impose the same-or-stricter environmental regulations the EU imposed on the British economy.
“There is a very real fear that Cameron’s successor will come from the school that supports a bonfire of anti-pollution protections,” Greenpeace U.K. executive director John Sauven said in a statement.
“The climate change-denying wing of the Conservative Party will be strengthened by this vote for Brexit,” he said. “That means the green movement, indeed every Briton who values a clean and safe environment, may need to stand up for nature in the face of an attack on the natural world.”
So will Brexit lead to massive environmental degradation? Probably not, as it’s unlikely Britons will suddenly not want at least some wildlife and pollution rules.
But what could be scaled back are the strict global warming regulations that have forced British power plants to close and have hampered heavy industry. Right-wing British politicians are more skeptical of global warming than Prime Minister David Cameron and his more moderate Conservative Party allies.
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