New look Greens target economy

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/8050951.stm

Version 0 of 1.

By Ross Hawkins BBC political correspondent

A man with a big beard, thick glasses and a shabby jumper slumps behind a desk blowing idly on a toy windmill.

That is the opening picture in the Green Party's latest election broadcast. It is - of course - the image they are trying to shed.

Caroline Lucas wants huge investment in renewable energies

By the end of the film the scruffy environmentalist has been transformed into a clean-shaven candidate.

At the launch of its European election campaign it was clear the party was hoping for a similarly swift change of image.

The emphasis was not just on saving the planet, but on saving the economy.

The party promised its plans would provide a million jobs. It drove home the point with a poster-sized bank note bearing that pledge.

The face smiling from the fake note was that of Caroline Lucas - the party's leader and one of its two MEPs.

Scrap nuclear

She said: "What we're talking about is a massive investment in renewable energies for example, and energy efficiency which would create jobs very quickly. It would cut emissions and it would cut fuel bills."

That investment would come with a pretty hefty price tag.

The Greens said their policies would cost £44bn. They thought they could save money along the way - by getting rid of nuclear weapons for instance. But Ms Lucas admitted some £25bn of the money would come from government borrowing.

The party described its plans as a "Green New Deal". The phrase has been used by others, not least Gordon Brown.

The idea of linking the economy and the environment has featured prominently in US President Barack Obama's thinking.

Of course, the Greens say their commitment to these plans exceeds that of their rivals.

But they know even as they try to alter the way they are seen, other parties have their own ideas for the environment.

The Greens are making their arguments in a crowded political market place.