Blair’s “Toothless Sop” to Bush On Climate

Tony Blair has been accused of caving in to American pressure by proposing a new “watered-down” replacement for the Kyoto Protocol that relies on new technology rather than binding emission cuts as the solution to climate change.

An article in today’s Times says that “Blair’s plan will be presented as a way of resolving deadlock over the best way to tackle global warming” but it has been “attacked by environmental groups as a toothless sop to the Bush Administration that would fail unless backed by rigorous targets”.

“In attempting to try to bring Bush on board he’s moving so far that we might end up without a coherent framework,” Mike Childs, from Friends of the Earth told the Times . “The trouble with saying we need new technology without having targets is that the business community won’t invest. It will keep its money in coal, oil and gas.”

So once again Blair has failed on climate. It really is time he packed his bags to spend more time with his family.