But it was not only a matter of the clash between nuclear energy and coal. Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen, one of the best-known British climate sceptics, draws a wider picture. She assigns an important role to the dramatic fall in oil prices in the 1980s, which meant that new alternative/sustainable fuels and technologies, including nuclear energy, new types of machines and equipment, and energy-saving needed government help in order to survive. Important elements of this were competition considerations, regarding both markets and investment flows, the wish to maintain economic growth and the possibility of new sources of government revenue (energy taxes). In her view, it was this cluster of factors that was the driving force behind the Kyoto process and not so much environmental considerations. The IPCC was given the task of giving scientific legitimacy to the existing policy objectives in these areas.