2 Responses to Polar Bear Facepalm about the #climate talks in Warsaw

1. gille liath says:

   November 8, 2013 at 1:36 pm

   But no comment on George Osbourne’s failed attempt to find a pretext for kiboshing the UK’s already agreed emissions cuts? It couldn’t be clearer – this govt wants to abandon any pretence of dealing with climate change: decently, if it can; since it can’t, we shall see what we shall see.

   I don’t know your political allegiance Marc – I gather you get a fair amount of stick for criticising the Labour MCC, but that’s fair enough as they are your primary area of concern. However, it is striking that the only people in the world you *never* seem to criticise are the only people who can effect real change and are simultaneously supposed to be accountable to us: the British government.

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   • manchesterclimatemonthly says:

     November 8, 2013 at 7:28 pm

     Gosh, I don’t think anyone has ever implied I am a Tory before!! For the record, never have voted for them, never would vote for them. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t interview one in my capacity as a journo though, and give them the chance to put forward their bone-headed “ideas”.

     Re: local stuff. Whoever was in charge – Labour, Lib Dem, Conservative, Green, whatever, I would be trying to do the scrutinising that I am. And would be accused of being partisan. When you are in one of the tribes, you can’t imagine that someone else thinks the tribalism is, well, funny and sad.

     Re: national. Well, this is Manchester Climate Monthly – we tend to stay away from the national stories because if people want them they can get them from Guardian, BBC etc etc (the lack of local news was, back in 2008, the impetus for MCMonthly’s predecessor, Manchester Climate Fortnightly.) Readers have limited attention/time. We could *easily* do dozens of posts on national stuff. If you want that coverage, there’s always Friends of the Earth.

     Fwiw, I think Cameron and Osborne are clueless toffs, scientifically illiterate to a degree that would appal Margaret Thatcher (herself a chemist and, for a while, an advocate of climate action). How they can call themselves conservatives, when their actions will lead to the destruction of human civ, I do not know. As Chomsky says, they are actually radical statists.

     I did a search on MCFly and here’s a couple of posts that would suggest I *do* criticise the national lot.

     Newsflash: #Manchester City Council to abolish “Head of #Climate Change” role. #tory #greenestgovernmentever?

     Government wanting to gag citizens? #whatasurprise #Trafford

     Finally (!) I believe that the people who can effect *real* change are you and me and hundreds of thousands (millions) of our friends and neighbours. It’s a terrifying responsibility, one that we have shirked and will continue to shirk in the coming decades.

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