The issue that dared not speak its name (Scarborough and Whitby Liberal Democrats)

Scarborough and Whitby Liberal Democrats <info@scarboroughandwhitbylibdems.org.uk>

The issue that dared not speak its name

May 3, 2005 9:48 AM

in this election has been the environment.

That's Tania Exley-Moore's verdict on the key issue of the campaign, and the one most ignored by politicians and the media alike.

'The biggest shame in this election has been the lack of attention being paid to the problem of climate change.'

Five weeks ago, New Scientist's leader 'The Edge of the Abyss' reported the conclusions of a meeting of climate experts that 'the risks are more serious than previously thought...' including 'ice sheet melting and sea level rises by up to 7 metres'. New Scientist emphasises that the matter is more urgent than many thought: '...scary stuff because because we appear closer to those tipping [of large scale climate change] points than previously supposed - only a decade or so away in some cases.'

'The science,' New Scientist concluded is 'compelling', and some experts are saying that climate change is a far bigger threat than international terrorism.

Tania said: 'Politicians have in the past said that they will put the environment at the heart of policymaking,but have carried on in the same old polluting way.'

'Unless the MPs elected on May 5th, start to take CO2 emissions seriously they will grow old in a world with wars over dwindling oil and water supplies, with mass migration from arid or frozen wastelands, blamed by their grandchildren for fiddling while the environment ran out of control.'

'No recent government can claim any credit on the environment recently, but the Labour government's failure to address the growth in car use is little more than craven surrender to the car, oil and road building lobby. Well, the time is now: oil reserves are about to peak, so the need for non-carbon energy alternatives is pressing.'

As New Scientist said "Politicians must respond to the science."

'In this parliament,' Tania said, 'whoever is elected, it's time to step up to the challenge of environmental responsibility with more than just platitudes and tinkering.'