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Robin Webster

24.10.2013 | 3:45pm
Media analysisHow the media covered the ‘green taxes’ story – in 5 stages
MEDIA ANALYSIS | October 24. 2013. 15:45
How the media covered the ‘green taxes’ story – in 5 stages

In 2006, then leader of the opposition, David Cameron, argued the Tories “want to see an increase in green taxes as a proportion of the total”. Seven years later, he’s reversed his position. How did the change come about – and how have the media framed the issue?

Government subsidies for low-carbon power and energy efficiency are to be reviewed, the prime minister announced yesterday. The subsidies are paid for through levies on consumer energy bills, which the PM says have reached “unacceptable” levels.

The details of the announcement remain unclear. But on the face of it, a campaign by company bosses, some Conservative politicians and several media outlets has paid off. We’ve followed the media campaign against so-called green taxes – often expressed as ‘subsidies for wind turbines’ in the media – over more than two years.

We chart the story’s five stages.

1. “The hidden green tax on fuel bills” – Daily Mail, June 2011 

A Daily Mail headline in June 2011 fired the starting gun on a series of attacks on green subsidies. The front page article claimed the measures added £200 to consumer energy bills.

Mail editor Paul Dacre appeared to have the levies in his sight-lines. But the paper hasn’t always got its numbers right. Its original claim that the subsidies were adding £200 to bills came from a climate skeptic thinktank – and was based on an erroneous interpretation of an out of date report.

The Mail printed a correction following a Carbon Brief complaint to the Press Complaints Commission. In fact, the Mail group printed three corrections, as both the Mail and Mail on Sunday repeated the claim.

In the months that followed, we documented other instances in which the Mail printed misleading figures that inflated the impact of the levies on energy bills.

Other papers including the Telegraph and Sunday Times also picked the narrative up, with varying levels of accuracy.

2. 101 Tories and the windfarm subsidies story 

Despite representing a small fraction of the levies, windfarm subsidies have attracted a lot of the attention.

101 Tories revolt over windfarms” reported the front page of the Sunday Telegraph in February 2012. Backbench Conservatives had written to the prime minister calling for the subsidies to be cut. The paper gave a voice to MP, Chris Heaton-Harris, who coordinated the parliamentary campaign against wind farm subsidies.

While the chancellor – a Conservative – appeared increasingly supportive of Heaton-Harris’s position, the Liberal Democrats defended the subsidies. In June, the Sunday Telegraph pre-emptively reported that wind subsidies were going to be cut by a quarter – but in the event they were cut by 10 per cent.

3. The conservatory tax – energy efficiency measures enter the fray 

The Mail also enlivened the spring of 2012 with a front-page attack on a proposed element of the government’s energy efficiency scheme, which the paper labelled the ‘conservatory tax’.

The measure would have required householders making large improvements to their home to include energy efficiency measures. In fact, it didn’t apply to most conservatories, wasn’t a tax and had already been running successfully in a Tory-led district council for five years.

No matter – the Mail inaccurately claimed the policy would cost householders “thousands of pounds”. Then Conservative ministers echoed the Mail’s claim, telling the Sunday Telegraph they were lobbying against the conservatory tax. Finally, the prime minister promised to reject the measure.

4. Raising a question over energy efficiency 

While not all the coverage of ‘green taxes’ has been accurate, it is clear that subsidies for renewables and nuclear power will drive up bills. The government predicts green subsidies will increase bills by about £280 a year by 2020. 

But overall, the government argues its policies will bring energy bills down – compared to what they would be if they weren’t in place. This is because it assumes energy efficiency measures – intended to help householders insulate their homes – will reduce energy consumption, and costs.

Some media coverage of the government’s predictions has ignored the impact of energy efficiency measures entirely, assuming they will have no impact at all. This may be unduly pessimistic. But many commentators have pointed out that the government’s energy-saving policies are struggling and may well not deliver the savings predicted.

5. Energy bills go big 

Recently, the energy bills debate has hit the big time. At the Labour Party conference last month, Ed Miliband proposed a temporary freeze on household energy bills. The proposed measure attracted popular support and catapulted energy policy on the front pages.

Three different energy suppliers – SSE, British Gas and Npower – then announced energy bills would go up by around 10 per cent. Although the suppliers also highlighted other factors increasing energy bills, media coverage focused on the role of ‘ green taxes‘.

The head of SSE called for a ” national debate” about the green agenda – and it appears his wish has come true.

Cameron’s surprise pledge to roll back green subsidies reflects political infighting between coalition partners. The Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have started to see the green agenda as a ‘wedge issue’ – a method by which the coalition partners can distinguish themselves from each other.

The newspapers have also played their part in fanning the flames against ‘green taxes’. Indeed, Cameron’s announcement may be more geared towards the media and his political critics rather than the public. Polling suggests consumers continue to support green measures – and blame energy companies for price rises despite the media campaign. But whether this would have continued in the future as green levies rose is unknown.

We’ll have to wait and see what the government comes up with before we know where attention will fall next.

UPDATE Oct 25th: Guy Newey from thinktank Policy Exchange points out that to us that 'green taxes'  is actually a technical term. They are described by government as taxes that aim to encourage environmentally positive behaviour change. The more environmentally damaging the behaviour, the greater the tax levied. Some of the government subsidies that are increasing energy bills count as 'green taxes' under that definition; some do not.

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