Shocking Environmental News (Part 2)
Well, this is a bit surprising--Britain's Tory leader Michael Howard taking BushCo to task for ignoring the need for policy change in the face of global warming; via the London Guardian :

Climate change is one of mankind's greatest challenges. In the past 30 years world temperatures have increased by almost 0.5C. We cannot predict with certainty what will happen now, but the risk of abrupt climate change certainly exists. Human activity is increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to levels unprecedented in human history. If we do nothing, or next to nothing, those levels will continue to rise, progressively increasing the risk of runaway global warming. There are those who say the risks have been exaggerated. To such people I say this: if we go your way and you are wrong we will save money in the short term but incur an immense penalty in the long term; if we go my way and I am wrong we will incur costs in the short term but with the reward of greener, cleaner technologies for saving and generating energy. Such technologies would improve air quality, avoid acid rain and reduce our dependency on imported gas and oil. It would seem that the Bush administration and for many years the US Senate do not accept this logic: America will not sign up to the Kyoto protocol; but we should not presume that American action on climate change begins and ends in Washington. California has shown how governments can encourage the development of breakthrough technologies such as hybrid electric cars and has pursued far-sighted policies. Across America, over 150 local governments, representing more than 50 million people, have in effect signed up to the Kyoto protocol - pledging to reduce carbon emissions by more than most European countries. [...] This isn't just about us and the Americans. The sobering fact is that China is building 1,000 megawatts of coal-fired generating capacity every two weeks. Before long India will be doing the same. If we don't develop the technologies that will enable these emerging giants to generate power cleanly then the war against global warming will be lost. Today Tony Blair is in Washington. The US is the greatest innovator the world has ever seen. There is no doubt that it can make the most enormous contribution towards dealing with one of the greatest problems the world has ever seen. Britain must persuade America to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.