Politicians need courage to deal with climate change

It is a bit like torturing yourself, listening to a politician talk about climate change. I inflicted some self torture when I watched and listened to Ed Miliband, the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on Sunday morning.

Mr Miliband dismissed some research by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (I shall write about that research tomorrow) which showed that the United Kingdom will not meet its climate change promises, which are “legally binding”. He was quite certain that the Institute of Mechanical Engineers had got their figures wrong in calculating how short we in the United Kingdom would be of renewable and low carbon measures. It is an easy slur to make about a reputable body of professionals that has no greater or lesser interest in climate protection than the rest of us and no political affiliation. The Institute is far better qualified to advise than many of the consultants that Mr Miliband’s department employs, who cannot even get their facts right about solar thermal.

He also claimed that the United Kingdom lead the world with the most aggressive legally binding climate protection promises. All these promises of future reduction of greenhouse gas emissions were, if you believe Mr Miliband, something rather special.

It is all very odd. Does Mr Miliband really think that the world is impressive by legally binding targets which have no means of fulfilment? Does Mr Miliband think that it is climate change leadership for the United Kingdom to spend, so it is claimed, a piffling £1.9 billion a year on renewable energy, some of it of no climate protection value like biomass?

Is this the right amount of money for a Government to spend on what they claim is the most dangerous long term problem facing humanity? If so, it is hardly surprising that less than half the inhabitants of the United Kingdom accept that climate change is man made.

Clearly, Mr Miliband is a clever gentleman. He must know, in his heart and in his mind that the United Kingdom is like most nations merely re arranging the lifeboats on the Titanic when it comes to dealing with climate change.

Perhaps, if he has any lingering doubts he can discuss the question of climate protection with his partner, and environmental lawyer at a leading City firm of solicitors. She should know.

I rather get the impression that Mr Miliband has not quite made up his mind whether climate protection comes before or after temporary economic prosperity. We cannot have both, can we?

Politicians need to be courageous when dealing with climate protection. It seems unlikely that the UN climate conference at Copenhagen will be successful. It also seems that President Obama will not be attending it, presumably in order not to be associated with its failure. This is quite wrong.

Politicians must be courageous and tell the public the truth, rather than pretend that what they are proposing will protect the future generations. There is no place for cowardice when it comes to protecting the climate. There is no place for pandering to the demands of the wealthy multi nations or large nation corporations, or for pretence that all will be well.

If it is not worth being courageous and truthful about the sacrifices and changes we must all adopt to protect our long term climate, then it is not worth being brave and courageous about anything. We might as well give up now and tell our children that they will have to solve a problem that we saw coming and refused to do anything about.