marklynas.orgBlair takes a stand on global warming 15 September 04
What must George Bush be thinking? His erstwhile best friend Tony Blair has widened the gulf in their relationship still further by making a dramatic speech on global warming in London. According to Bush, global warming isn’t happening. According to Blair, it’s “a challenge so far-reaching in its impact and irreversible in its destructive power that it alters radically human existence”. But the real issue now is whether Blair can walk the walk as well as talk the talk. A good first step would be to cancel all new airport development in the UK – long a campaign target of groups such as AirportWatch. A second would be to reverse the continual growth in road traffic, and to shift hidden subsidies from road to rail. But all of this requires leadership and political will – and demonstrating these is Blair’s next task on climate change.
Comments
Peter
September 15th, 2004 at 11:10 PM
Forgive my cynicism, but I’d interpret this new rhetoric on climate change (and the proposed ban on foxhunting) as what psychologists call displacement activity – getting busy doing anything when you can’t face up to what really needs to be done.
With Blair having little influence on the Bush administration, the climate change issue makes a useful declaration of apparent independence, although it’s likely to be a futile one, even if there is a change of president.
Peter
September 15th, 2004 at 11:34 PM
I’m reading an interesting book at the moment, “Environment & Statecraft: The Strategy of Environmental Treaty-Making”, by Scott Barrett at the moment.
There’s more information here:
http://www.sais-jhu.edu/programs/ir/eest/Faculty/Barrett%20book.html
I’ve just finished this one, a backgrounder and discussion of options for US climate policy by David Victor for the Council on Foreign Relations
http://www.cfr.org/pdf/climate_change.pdf
Has anyone read these?
Vicki Falde
September 16th, 2004 at 05:17 AM
That’s how I feel about Blair’s announcements and pronouncements. Obviously, it helps him politically, and he certainly needs help after tilting windmills with George W(arrior) Bush in Iraq! It was nice to see the opposition leader urge action on GW as well (getting in the requisite digs on Blair and the Labor Party, naturally!).
Still, I do believe that the man does sincerely believe in the problem, and that it IS a crisis. Europeans are much saner and more aware of what is really going on around planet Earth than My Fellow Americans. (THERE’S the understatement of the century, to date!) But words ARE cheap, and leaders lavishly purchase them from the Words Warehouse Market. To actually see someone put them into ACTION would be worth the price of admission (especially in the conference room of next year’s G8 meeting)!
As for roads (the past)over trains (the future), no one ever lost money on a bet that world/corporate leaders would avoid using common sense! I suppose, if there’s a bright side to looking at this, at least there’s be some nice, smooth traveling for all of us on bicycles in the Coming Transformed Society!