The Liberal Democrats have promised to ban commercial genetically modified crops as they set out their environmental policies. The party wants a moratorium on GM crops until they are proved safe for people and the environment and they also promised not to go ahead with any major new road building schemes unless the benefits were clear.

They also proposed:

60 per cent of all household waste should be recycled by 2012
20 per cent of electricity generated by renewable sources by 2020
A moratorium on new incinerators and no new nuclear power stations
Charles Kennedy, the party leader, said environmentally damaging behaviour cost Britain �67 billion last year - equivalent to the entire NHS budget.

"On the environment the Liberal Democrats are not just the real alternative," said Charles Kennedy. "If you want to improve the environment we are the only choice."

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