Matt Ridley, Times arch climate sceptic and one of the men at the helm of the banking crisis is spreading doubt about climate change again in his article about Global cooling on Monday 8 Jan.
Spreading doubt about climate change saps society’s willingness to cut emissions as it gives people fragile straws to cling on as their excuse for doing nothing, whether they are the man and woman coming up the escalator in Brixton tube station, the executive in ICI or the Prime Minister. Besides our duty in reducing climate change now, our other duty is to bring to justice those who prevented action.
My response is below:
Dear Editor,
Matt Ridley seems to say that we are going moving into an ice age rather than global warming. His article looks selectively at the arctic weather on the US east coast, but wholly ignores the record breaking warm winter on its west coast. It mentions “iguanas falling out of the trees” from the cold but fails to mention that the current heatwave in Australia is leading to the death of their fruit bats.
This cherry picking of world weather is a blatant attempt to reinforce climate doubt in people and reduces the chance that individually and collectively, we will do what is needed to protect the planet for our children and grandchildren. If we should fail in this duty, it represents a double challenge for intergenerational justice: firstly, how we make restitution to future generations for our failure to protect their planet and secondly, how we seek justice on their behalf against the people and organisations responsible for climate change emissions AND the deniers like Mr Ridley who seek to prevent action to reduce emissions.
Chit Chong
Climate Action Academy 