1 March 2019
Yesterday, for the first time in two years, Parliament debated climate change.
Yet only a handful of parliamentarians turned up to debate the most important issue of our generation. The young people on #schoolstrike4climate are showing more leadership than the truant politicians who are shirking their responsibility.
Climate change is not a future threat. It is happening here and now. And it demands a complete rethink of our economy, as well as the way we measure progress.
Climate change should be on the parliamentary agenda every week. Not every two years. Hear what Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP, said in the chamber yesterday by following this link.
It is not possible to tackle the climate crisis, whilst also expanding airports, investing in fracking or spending billions on new roads.
Ten years ago she co-founded the first Green New Deal project here in the UK as an example of the new thinking we need.
Across the country, Greens are leading the way too. More than 25 councils have declared a climate emergency thanks to their work. And in the debate Caroline Lucas jointly secured yesterday, she called on parliament to do the same. These are extraordinary times which require extraordinary action.
How sad that in our own area, the oil rig in Poole Bay is set to turn Dorset into another Dallas.
Greenpeace UK have launched a campaign targeting the drilling in Poole Bay. This rig has become the national symbol of a failed UK energy policy in the face of a climate emergency. We can now put real pressure on the Secretary of State for Business & Energy to stop any further attempts to extract oil here or anywhere else. You can sign their petition here.