This week Tony Blair declared 'war on global warming' in one of his speeches.
He pledges that Britain will lead the way in being eco-friendly, and that the way to fund this is the so called 'eco-tax'.
What do you think. Is Tony Blair sincere in his efforts to save the planet, or is this merely a PR attempt designed to raise more money for the government to spend on things they've failed on...like immigration, education, the NHS, pensions and general state welfare..
Discuss...
2006-10-31 15:50:53 · 23 answers · asked by Edward R 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Government
Unfortunately I believe he's thinking about his Legacy at the moment. He has be in since 1997 since then he could have done a lot more to prevent global warming.
However the argument still remains, if the UK introduces all these new green taxes, will it actually make much difference when the US, China and India are still pumping out huge amounts of pollution. China being the most worrying of all as they are concentrating on economic expansion not the environment.
2006-10-31 20:08:45 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If for one second i believed what come out of that mans mouth,shoot me please!with this ongoing debate about global warming once again you have to look at the facts,1;they have know about this crap for years now and have done nothing,solar panels would be really cheap now if only they started doing something say 20 years ago,by the way if you was to produce electricity in your own home via solar power or wind you have to sell it back to the national grid and then by it back,great idea a illegal if you dont by the way,did you also know(this is why it is all a con)that if we the uk do a great job of cleaning up and reduce are emissions and create loads of nice new clean air,we can sell it to the usa so that they dont look so bad great a we pay they get.Anyway if our pm/goverment was interested in making the world a better place why are they using uranium tipped tank shells in iraq and afganastan causing loads of fallout killing loads of innocent people with cancer and whatever else goes with it.The answer to that is they dont give a monkeys about anything to say the least.
2006-11-01 04:11:08 · answer #2 · answered by ellementre 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Global warming is a serious issue and Blair has acknowledged that. Whether an eco-tax helps at all remains to be seen. It's all in how the money is spent.
The quickest best fix is a massive reforestation project. We need to replant about five times as many trees as have been destroyed in the past twenty years. It won't help in the short run, but within fifteen years we should start seeing some slow down in global warming. Within twenty five, we might start seeing some improvement.
Of course, the politicians aren't even looking at easy fixes. They want to throw the money at industry and industry has no solution.
2006-11-01 00:03:21 · answer #3 · answered by loryntoo 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Didn't Tony Blair declare war on global warming when he first came into power,,he seems to declare war on a lot of stuff but it's all hot air and empty promises,,just like most politicians
2006-11-02 12:59:40 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tackle this one scientifically, as in look at the evidence. Are you happy with how the NHS is being handled? Are you happy about the war in Iraq? Keep in mind the same approach is being used for international development aid. Now apply what they have done in these areas to the biggest cash cow of our times: the money that will be put to climate crisis. It will be an orgy of corruption with little actual improvement.
2006-11-01 05:13:21 · answer #5 · answered by Bob M 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A "war on global warming" you say? Another "war" that isn't a war? When is a war not a war? When there is no objective and identifiable enemy; when war is metaphor for fear and loathing. Islam, drugs, poverty . . .
For "Islam" read "political Islam" and "organized crime". But that's another story.
Greed will out, and to any politician, a five-year horizon is all s/he sees. Blair is "serious", no doubt personally concerned; but nothng will be done unless it coincides with what is politically expedient and convenient; and profits somebody in a position of influence.
At least opposition to it isn't being coordinated with attack on the "theory" of evolution and "baby killing" of uncreated foetuses.
The best last hope for those concerned is that the EU will mandate something. The UK is the top member state in terms of transposing and enforcing EU directives. Other states (do I hear "France"?) transpose and ignore.
2006-11-01 01:03:03 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
I don't think Tony blair, nor the rest of government is serious as a whole. They're more interested in taxing people than being more pro-active. 'Green' is just a colloquial term for the 'eco' tax. I bet you if they find a greener way of fuelling they will still tax as their spenditure will rely on it.
2006-11-01 08:55:37 · answer #7 · answered by The_Boat_of_Questions 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
He is using it to distract people from the real issues of failure ie IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN. Our greenhouse gas ratio in the UK is 1.8: USA 20.0 : India about 6 Germany about5 China about 10 : Russia about 9. Why do we need to do something based on those figures. Surely we should tell others that they are ruining the planet, not us. He should get work done in Iraq first. Sort out one mess first, don't you think?
2006-11-01 00:54:14 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
He was dead serious. Blair, unlike Bush, is open to ideas from the scientific community. Blair gets it that what we do today will have a profound impact on our earth for future generations. Blair gets that it is OUR responsibility to be proactive, not reactive.
Blair, though I have very little respect for him for joining Bush in his conquest of Iraq, has at least the balls to take action on Global Warming.
2006-10-31 23:59:50 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
No i don't.I think it's a desperate attempt to divert attention from the mess in Iraq,& to raise extra money to pay for it.Blair is incapable of being sincere about anything,except what's in his own interests.
2006-11-01 00:48:01 · answer #10 · answered by michael k 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋