Monbiot’s manifesto

George Monbiot has written an excellent article in todays Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/02/climate-change-lord-turner
He paints a very worrying picture, with evidence that run-away global warming has already begun. “In 2007 methane levels in the atmosphere, which had previously levelled off, began rising again. The most likely reason is that the Siberian permafrost is melting, as a result of the runaway warming of the Arctic. This wasn’t supposed to begin for another 80 years. The great global meltdown appears to have started”.

Monbiot urges cuts in greenhouse gases by roughly 25% from current levels by the end of 2012 – a quarter in four years. And he has worked out how this could be possible, including support for the Green New Deal Lord Turner’s proposals are clearly not strong enough. We can’t risk destroying our planet by continuing to do so little about the urgent climate crisis. Climate Change is no longer an environmental issue, it is a security issue, as our very survival depends on us responding to stop it. It should be given a far higher priority than the so called “war on terror”. Then we may start to move in the right direction.