Source: BBC Radio 4: Today Programme
URL: N/A
Date: 03/06/2013
Event: Ed Davey "extremely frustrated" by climate change "campaign in right-wing newspapers"
Attribution: BBC Radio 4
People:
Sarah Montague: The Energy and Climate Secretary Ed Davey will strongly criticise some newspapers today for undermining the science behind climate change for political ends. Our Environment Analyst is Roger Harrabin. And Roger, the advance information about this speech suggests that it will be a very robust attack on newspapers.
Roger Harrabin: Yes, indeed. I mean, there are different sorts of influence, aren't there - not just lobbying but what we read in the newspapers, of course, influences us a lot. And Ed Davey, for a long time, has been privately extremely frustrated by what he believes to be a campaign in right-wing newspapers - although he doesn't actually say that in his speech, but he means right-wing newspapers - which is influencing Conservative back-benchers to think that climate change is not real or not a problem.
And he points to a recent study showing that 97% of more than 12,000 studies showed that climate change was happening and driven by humans - 97%, but he says despite that, you see a flood of climate sceptic material in the newspapers. And, I mean, some of his language in his speech, which he'll give to the Met Office this afternoon, if he follows his draft - let me give you a little bit of this, here:
"Some sections of the press are giving uncritical campaigning platform to individuals and lobby groups who reject the fact that climate change is the result of human activity. This is not the serious science of challenging, checking and probing. This is destructive and loudly clamouring scepticism, born of vested interest, nimbyism, publicity-seeking controversialism or sheer blinkered dogmatic political bloody-mindedness."
Now that is not the sort of normal political tone, is it.
Sarah Montague: But the timing, of course, is that we have the Energy Bill in Parliament, this week.
Roger Harrabin: Ah yes, and some people may be a little cynical about Ed Davey's speech, because he is facing fire from his own back-benchers because he had to give way to the Chancellor on the Energy Bill. Now the LibDems, in party conference, voted in favour of imposing a firm target for 2030 to clean up the electricity system, so almost all our electricity is generated by nuclear, wind, solar. The Chancellor absolutely refused for that clause to be passed, so the decision's going to be put off until after the election. That will mean it's very likely that the UK won't meet its long-term targets on climate change, which, frankly, are extremely difficult, anyway. So, you know, maybe Ed Davey is trying to burnish his green credentials a little, before facing his back-benchers tomorrow, because it looks like there may be a substantial number of LibDems and also Tories voting against the government, on this one.
Sarah Montague: Roger Harrabin, thank you.