It’s the wrong time to blow cold on global warming
From the Guardian in the UK: It’s the wrong time to blow cold on global warming
Each year, new research predicts with increased certainty the severity and imminence of climate change. That continents have been frozen or baked before is no consolation to millions facing famine, flooding and disease.
Against this dramatic backdrop, we might expect the government to be doing something extraordinary to protect its citizens. Instead, it is obfuscating, prevaricating, politicking.
Carbon dioxide is the biggest manmade cause of global warming, so it is a good benchmark by which to judge government actions to tackle the problem.
Technorati Tags: climate change, CO2, global warming, politics, UK
The article goes on to add
The [British] Prime Minister, who once worked hard to get the wider world to act, appears to be vacillating. A review of climate-change policy has been repeatedly delayed, reportedly because some departments refuse to pull their weight. A recent study by the government’s Sustainable Development Commission revealed that some ministries were failing even their internal environmental targets. Apparently small, potentially cost-neutral suggestions, such as council tax rebates for home efficiency improvements and bigger gaps between car tax bands to encourage motorists to buy more environmentally friendly models, have still not been accepted, despite studies showing that they can be powerful agents of change.
Global problems need global solutions, far beyond the reach of the government, and many of the changes needed will have to come not from ministers but consumers and private business.
[Emphasis added - DS]
