Ed Miliband delivers 19 page speech and basically not a word about the environment
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
We were treated to 19 pages of Miliband speech when Ed was confirmed as the new leader of the Labor Party and only two very small mentions of climate change and the environment. Where's green Ed gone?
Being green was just a put-on, it would appear, to go with the job he once held as Environment Secretary. Now, out of that job and the new leader of the Labor Party the green image has basically been dropped, it would appear.
And can we not see much of a muchness with regards to the environment when it comes to the coalition government of Tories and Whigs. Once upon a time, and it is a bit like a fairy tale, David Cameron tried to make himself out so very green but most environmental programs have just fallen prey to the axe of budget deficit cuts.
On the other hand the nuclear submarine program to replace Trident is still there as is the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dropping those now immediately would save us billions without needing to do any public service cuts and no cuts on the environmental sector.
Much like so many companies on the market there is loads of greenwashing going on in politics in order to get the votes of the people. Afterwards it is business-as-usual with promoting coal and nuclear power rather than environmentally friendly sources of energy. That is left to industry alone.
It would appear that the parties, bar maybe one, are all interested in other things once they are elected and even when they go into opposition now, such as the Labor Party.
We can but dream, I know, about one day getting some politicians in leadership positions who really dig green and environment and protection of life on Earth. Once it appeared that Ed Milliband might be that one but, alas, how things seems to have changed.
© 2010
