Friday, April 11, 2008

Will science save us from climate change?

"Like a child, Tony Blair will not give up anything or change his ways to save the planet, instead saying, in effect, 'China pollutes more than we do, so what's the point'.

Is this because he gets his environmental credentials from George Bush or just because, like everything else in his life, he does not act from principles at all, but mere expediency.

Another nail in his 'legacy'."

So says Blair-focused blog Shadowsignals News of the PM's statement that it is impractical to expect people to make personal sacrifices by taking holidays closer to home.

Cathy Green of the blog The One Tonners is similarly exasperated by Blair's attitude, writing in an open letter to the environment secretary, David Miliband, that his boss is "a man in denial":

"He trots out the same arguments about flying and the UK's carbon emissions that I would expect from a Daily Mail reader down the pub! He is completely out of touch with the reality of the climate science ..."

Is Blair - recently returned from a holiday in Miami - right to say that imposing "unrealistic targets" on travellers is a bad idea, especially when emissions from rapidly growing economices such as China dwarf those of the UK? Can science and technology save us from the effects of climate change? Have your say in the comments below.

Environment / UK politics

No comments: