Lib Dems reignite Heathrow runway row

The Liberal Democrats yesterday reiterated their call for the planned third runway at Heathrow to be scrapped, after new calculations showed that the anticipated economic benefits from expanding the airport would be all but wiped out by the cost of increased carbon emissions.

According to the government's economic analysis, the financial cost of increased carbon emissions from the expanded airport would total £4.8bn up to 2080, resulting in a net economic benefit of between £4.4bn and £5.2bn.

But the new study from the Lib Dems argued that the shadow carbon price of £25 a tonne used in the government's calculations has since been superseded by new guidance on carbon costs released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) this summer. This recommends government project proposals account for a higher carbon price that rises over time to £70 in 2030 and £200 in 2050.

Using the new figures, the Lib Dems calculated that the financial cost of increased carbon emissions from the expanded airport would total £9.3bn to 2080, wiping out almost all the expected net economic benefit.

Simon Hughes, energy and climate change spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, which carried out the analysis, said the government should accept the new calculations and reverse its controversial decision to approve the third runway.

"It is time for the government to come clean on Heathrow," he said. " Ministers know the economic rationale for a third runway is a sham because their own figures prove it. By giving the green light to a third runway, the government has allowed hundreds of thousands more flights, creating a climate change disaster."

He added that the government's support for Heathrow expansion and new coal-fired power plants had "fatally undermined" its climate change credentials. "It cannot hope to meet its carbon-reduction targets when it is wedded to high-polluting industries such as these." he said. "While the Liberal Democrats have long campaigned against a third runway, the Tories are wavering on airport expansion and Labour are ploughing full steam ahead."

Responding to a parliamentary question from Hughes, the Department of Transport admitted that it had not updated its economic analysis for Heathrow using DECC's new carbon costs.