That's right, just us, folks.
There were a few diaries recently about a threatening letter sent to climate change scientist Michael Mann (not that Michael Mann). I thought it was just standard run-of-the-mill harrassment and intimidation. Well, the other shoe just dropped.
Flippity flip...
Here we find an article in the Sydney Morning Herald about Blair seriously considering siding with the rest of the G8 on strong wording about the scientific support for and potential consequences of global warming.
Oh I get it... Make a big show of sending a letter intended to discredit a prominent climate change scientist just in time to go into the G8 negotiations in a difficult position because the poodle has a headache and doesn't want to take it like usual.
It seems like patience is wearing thin in England.
Maybe it's the lies.
Maybe it's the denial.
Who knows. It aint O'Connor.
The wording in question is:
The US is objecting to these words: "Climate change is a serious and long-term challenge that has the potential to affect every part of the globe. There is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring and that human activity is contributing to this warming."
It also disputes that "we know that we need to slow, stop and then reverse the growth in greenhouse gases to reduce our exposure to potentially serious economic, environmental and security risks."
A G8 summit with seven countries agreed on one version of the communique, and the US is sitting there with their own version. Maybe we can get Australia to join us in our very own G2, but for now, WE'RE NUMBER ONE! We are the G1, we can write any communique we want, and we have the army to back it up. Oh wait, give us a few years on that whole backing it up thing.
[update] It appears that a draft containing compromised language was leaked:
Full text leaked Here
I believe these are the analogous paragraphs. Looks watered-down, but stronger than previous such statements.
Climate change is a serious long-term threat that has the potential to affect every part of the globe. And we know that by increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, mankind’s activities are contributing to this warming. This is an issue we must address
now.
And
Climate change is a serious long-term threat that hasthe potential to affect every part of the globe. And we know that by increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, mankind’s activities are contributing to this warming. This is an issue we must address
now.
I guess the poll question has been answered.