“We have all been duped and not told the truth about climate change” – that was the claim of a veteran Isle of Wight councillor at a meeting last week.
When debating whether or not the Isle of Wight Council should support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill going through parliament, Councillor Ian Ward said he was not a climate change denier but it was inevitably going to happen so we should prepare for the consequences.
The motion to support was proposed by Green Councillor Joe Lever who said the irreversible impacts of climate change were being felt across the world and without significant and sustained action, the world was set to exceed Paris Agreement limits by 2040.
Councillor Julie Jones-Evans remarked during the counting, there were ‘climate change deniers in the council’ and they had put politics before the planet.
Cllr Lever said immediate action would help prevent the additional heating of the Earth’s temperature and stepping in now would help avoid a cataclysmic climate and ecological tipping point.
In 2019, the Isle of Wight Council declared a climate change emergency and started developing a climate change strategy, which it approved earlier this month. The strategy, ‘Mission Zero’, sets out a council action plan and commits the authority to making the Island net carbon zero by 2040.
Councillor Daryll Pitcher said after looking closer at the parliamentary bill, ‘the facts come out and you realise it is a form of hard socialism in the back door’. He said the bill was a big government response, where self-appointed people dictate everyone’s views.
Councillor Richard Quigley said if anyone needed a reason to support the motion, they just needed to listen to what Cllr Pitcher had said.
Many years ago, Cllr Ward said he read an article about climate change which had the ‘interesting fact’ that only 0.3% of the carbon dioxide produced on the earth, adding to greenhouses gases, are manmade. He said he had asked a green party member about the claim who allegedly confirmed it and said if they told the truth nobody would support them.
Continuing his own investigations into climate change, Cllr Ward said, many eminent scientists say it is inevitable.
Speaking to councillors across the chamber, Cllr Ward said:
“You can shake your heads, but you were not told the truth. You have been duped.
“So we are talking about doing this and that; the Chinese have said ‘oh no we’re not’, the Americans have said ‘oh no we’re not’, the Indians have said ‘oh no we’re not’, so little Isle of Wight is going to change the world?
“Is England even going to change the world? Oh no, it’s not.
“I would rather effort put into combating the consequences of climate change, it is going to happen. It is no good saying it is not.”
Councillor Andrew Garratt said he had read the bill earlier today and was very impressed with it as people were constructively talking together on something that will direct the way government can attack a real pressing crisis we face. He said:
“Little old people, little young people can change things when they work together … Cllr Ward is wrong, we can achieve change.”
Former cabinet member for the environment, Councillor Steve Hastings said he would abstain from the motion because there was another bill further ahead in its readings in parliament. Cllr Hastings said he could support the motion in principle but nothing new was being suggested.
In a named vote, 21 councillors supported the motion, 5 against (Cllrs Pitcher, Michael Beston, Vanessa Churchman, Joe Robertson and Ian Ward) with 6 abstentions (Cllrs Hastings, John Nicholson, Martin Oliver, Gary Peace, Ray Redrup and Peter Spink).
Whilst I appreciate that mans industrialisation has had SOME effect on the Planet, a study just published regarding the fact that the Jet Stream is moving further north is NOT due to man.
The study has clearly shown that this is a natural phenomenon, and last happened in the 1700’s when Spain, France, etc suffered an extended period of drought which caused major famine and loss of life.
Man is NOT the sole cause of climatic change, a reading of fossil and historic records evidences this!
So the worst that would happen if we try and reign-in our consumption of resources and energy would be that the impact of climate change on humans may be reduced a bit (but not totally) ?
And that’s your argument for what, doing nothing ?
Here’s how it goes….
Councillors, politicians etc. will debate climate change, back and forth, for years.
Meanwhile the money-making machine will carry on as normal, raping resources from the Earth and spitting them out as ‘consumerables’.
People will insist on the same kind of lifestyle, making any political party that genuinely wants to install change, redundant,
No collective effort will be made globally (at least, not until there is literally no hope and no chance left).
Then we all fry / drown / starve / die of thirst, depending on where we’re situated on the planet.
Anyone believing otherwise is dreaming.
That’s how this goes.
Agreed, and there is a parallel stream of naturally-occurring activity which many will use to excuse the laziness of doing nothing.
If we accept that natural cycles will overwhelm us whatever we do, and that therefore we are all doomed, let’s just give up now. On the other hand, we can make every effort to reduce and delay the phenomena while preparing to survive.
Humans used to be good at survival – have we lost the knack?
Stop people having so many babies.. less people, less consumables.. especially in third world places, two children is plenty..
Ashame they do not sort out the islands problems. Aimless arguing about what India and China are doing is more than pointless.
They call it climate change, but what about the destruction of whole species by man? So many habitats lost because of what humans do so many forms of insect and plant life become extinct. All of it adds to he ecological environment and works in unison, until man interferes. The cumulative effect of so many front gardens being concreted over is a case in point, People say one won’t make any difference, but it’s never just one, it is many, and before you know it a whole street. Something needs to be done about supposedly small things like that, it all adds up and can help species recover it they haven’t already died out.
Good shout buddy, humans are a plague on this planet in which most people would agree.
But I think you are wrong to just blame men, women are just as much to blame also, if not more so, what with there constant ironing,washing and cooking, and also, they live much longer.
No idea why my reply to this has been removed. In it I stated that by man, I mean the whole of humanity not just males. Man is a shorter word than mankind, or humankind, or humanity, or the human race, or just humans and this site only allows very short comments now so have to be concise. Of course women are to blame as much, but not all women are into constant ironing cooking washing etc. Don’t know what was wrong with me saying that, IE?
Hey buddy, I was only saying it tongue and cheek (lol).
It is a shame about IE, bit like pot luck, who is working/editing at the time of post etc. ?
Its all evolving, too many people, even animals and birds are changing, I say a pheasant pecking at road kill yesterday, Thought they were vegan…
Thats how we feel about the Floating Bridge mate… been duped by you when you said it was fully functional and fit for purpose. Millions of pounds wasted when you could of built a offshore wind turbines or proposed tidal wave energy so that the island can get greene, cheaper energy.. nah we will just waste thousands of tax payer money on redesigning roundabouts instead!!
Hey ! You waiting for the new Smallbrook roundabout ??
Slightly off this subject… But how insane is that new ‘ CULT ‘ getting people to walk out and sit on a motorway? Firstly according to Highway Code, pedestrians are not allowed on Motorways, now how insane would a person need to be to tell others ( like sheep) to walk out in front of vehicles travelling at Motorway speeds and sit down ? Who would be to blame if just one of them get hit< and whom would be responsible for the accidents in the long tail backs… ambulances that cannot get through, tail enders.. let alone temper flares..
Pure idiot. Leader should be locked up. Made me two hours late for Island ferry.
What a bunch of morons.
The population explosion will see the end of the planet long before climate change will. All these tree huggers telling us what to do while they happily continue to breed, bringing the end of the earth closer and closer. Personally, I don’t think the planet is worth saving and couldn’t give a monkeys about it.
Sadly, the tree hugger types often don’t even have any kids, who might be influenced into good ways, it’s too often the types who don’t care about the environment are the ones who breed the most.