Right program committee leader: right now you need to put jobs ahead of the environment
Internal disagreement on the right
Several in Høyre respond to Helland’s statement, including Høyre’s climate and environmental spokesman Stefan Heggelund.
– I hope that is not the direction in which the program committee will continue to work on these issues. I agree with Helleland that new jobs are important. But I do not agree that there is a contradiction between the environment and growth. It is a distinction that we reject on the right, he says.
Young Right is on the same line:
– I don’t agree with your premise. There is no contradiction between creating jobs and protecting the environment, says Young Right leader Sandra Bruflot, who also sits on the program’s committee.
Heggelund believes that Helleland, with the declaration, makes a distinction between growth and protection that belongs to left-wing thinking and much of the environmental movement.
It is not like this. We must combine growth and green change, he says.
– Look around you now. Now everything has stopped and greenhouse gases are going down. But they do it in a very damaging way. Yes, we fly less, but airlines cannot afford to make their green investments. The change stops.
He believes that the right should still balance environmental and commercial interests, without saying that one should always have priority. Refers to the new definition of the ice canton government.
– It is a good example of a compromise between environmental considerations and the facilitation of value creation, also for the oil industry.
Young Right fears for Green’s green development
Before the pandemic, various media wrote that the right was moving in a greener direction.
The Young Right leader fears that the crown crisis will halt development.
– Yes, I am concerned about that. Clearly, it is easier to have good environmental and climatic measures when you can go to the oil fund and unemployment is low, says Bruflot.
– But we must be able to prioritize the environment even in times of crisis, although it is important to create jobs. We will discuss this balance in the program committee, but we cannot say beforehand that because of the crown, jobs will triumph over everything.
Alerts resistance at the national meeting
Storting representative Lene Westgaard-Halle sits on a program council to ensure that the Høyre program committee gets “the widest possible participation and support.”
– I understand what you are trying to say, but I do not agree that there is any contradiction between climate and environmental considerations and economic growth. Rather, on the contrary, she says.
She emphasizes that the right has placed a much stronger emphasis on climate policy in recent years and believes that the right is at a crossroads. She expects an offensive and modern parliamentary program that demonstrates that it is possible to reconcile economic growth and consideration for climate and environment.
– If the program committee prioritizes climate and environment and does not have two ideas at the same time, I will at least question it at the national meeting.
– Do you sit on the board of the program and have any influence on the committee?
– I am involved in the process and will be clearly internal. I don’t want to support something that is not more modern and offensive. I will not support the right-wing politics of the 1980s, we must move on.
