18.10.2011 Transport sector welcomes Greening

Justine Greening replaces Phillip Hammond as Secretary of State for Transport, as Hammond becomes Defence Secretary following Liam Fox's recent resignation.

Greening, previously Treasury Economic Secretary, is MP for Putney, Roehampton and Southfields, and becomes the 14th Transport Secretary in the last 23 years.

Although Greening is yet to comment upon any transport propositions, she is well known for being a strong supporter of low carbon, environmentally friendly policies.

Greening campaigned passionately against the Labour Government's proposals for a third runway at Heathrow, influenced by her constituency being underneath Heathrow's flight path. On her website, she commented on the Coalition's decision to scrap the third runway plans, saying "This announcement is really fantastic news for us and will help protect our local quality of life."

Issues that Greening will be involved with include the recently proposed 80 mph speed limit and helping to promote the widespread uptake of electric and other low carbon vehicles.

Due to her history, it is unlikely that she will be in support of increasing speed limits, due to the well proven fact that it will increase emissions, counteracting any emission reductions that the transport sector has achieved in recent years.

Next Green Car is certainly in support of a transport secretary who will be promoting low emission cars and policy to reduce CO2 from the transport sector.