But like Green MEP Caroline Lucas writing in the paper later that week I am not convinced. Our Government doesn’t make decisions which harm the environment because of a lack of scientific knowledge but, generally, because it fails to recognise the long-term economic and social benefits of solving environmental problems - and because it is more concerned with the perceived immediate impact of policies on swing voters rather than long-term wellbeing of the whole country.
Caroline Lucas gives the example of climate change:
"the government knows what to do – vastly improve energy conservation, invest seriously in renewables, cap industrial emissions and stop giving tax breaks and hidden subsidies to the worst greenhouse gas emitters – but it just hasn’t been prepared to do it. Regardless of the best efforts of Bill Sutherland and his team, I fear this work may become just another chapter in humankind’s monitoring of its own imminent extinction rather than a contribution to preventing it."
From the perspective of human survival, how we tackle climate change is secondary to the first major change that needs to happen: namely, to demonstrate that we are prepared to take any serious action at all. Sadly at present neither Tony Blair nor David Cameron have given us any credible indication that a British government with them at the helm would be prepared to do so.
As Caroline Lucas notes we already know what to do - Labour aren't doing it and the Tories’ failure to adopt these policies is surely caused by their failure to bring the philosophical core of their policies in line with their new found green rhetoric, and their inability to recognise that real quality of life is not necessarily dependent on ever increasing economic growth.
I and many others will only believe the Tories are really interested in tackling climate change, and doing so in a socially equitable way, when they adopt some policies likely to actually achieve that. Let us all hope that happens soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment