David Cameron again attempts today to set out his green credentials. But new revelations again underline the true feelings of Conservatives on climate change.
In an interview in today’s Guardian, David Cameron again attempts to set out his green credentials. But new revelations once again underline the true feelings of Conservatives on climate change.`
In today’s Guardian, Cameron says:
“The political declaration agreed at Copenhagen must not allow warming to go above 2C, it must include a proper mechanism for funding adaptation for poorest countries, and it has got to have a proper policy to protect rainforests.”
But Liberal Conspiracy reveals today that two of Camerons’ confidants, Oliver Letwin and Iain Duncan Smith, sit on the advisory body of The European Foundation, which yesterday published a farcical report outlining “100 reasons why climate change is natural and not man-made.” This was covered by the Daily Express among others.
Speaking on the Week in Westminster on Saturday, Tim Montgomerie of Conservative Home said:
“In terms of issues that I know if I post on on Conservative Home that I’ll get lots of comments and very excited comments, [climate change] is right their at the top in terms of worrying about the implications of a Conservative government pursuing this agenda in a very dramatic way.”
The revelations about the links between the European Foundation report and Cameron’s confidants comes on the back of:
– Left Foot Forward‘s revelations about the links of climate sceptic Conservative grandees, Peter Lilley and Lord Nigel Lawson, with oil companies;
– Former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis (incidentally also on the European Foundation’s advisory board) writing that in the Independent that, “The planet appears to have been cooling, not warming, in the last decade” despite the fact that the last decade is the warmest in recorded history.
– Next Left‘s expose that none of the top 10 Conservative blogs believe in the existence of man-made climate change;
– The rejection of the Conservative party’s policy on Copenhagen by allies in the new European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) grouping including Roger Helmer MEP and Daniel Hannan MEP; and
– Concerns from senior Green MEPs about David Cameron’s links with politicians who deny the existence of man-made climate change.
UPDATE 12.11
Harriet Harman, stepping in for Gordon Brown at PMQs, mentions in the involvement of 11 of William Hague’s colleagues with the European Foundation report.
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