Extreme weather is 'a sign of things to come' unless there is tougher action on climate change, warns South East politician
11 March 2008
The turbulent weather conditions hitting the South East this week are aworrying sign of things to come unless the Government takes a tougher lineon climate change, Green MEP for the South East Caroline Lucas warned today.
Dr Lucas said: "Studies have suggested that the South East of England islikely to be one of the regions worst affected by climate change. In areport as long ago as 2004 entitled 'Global Warming, Local Warning', I drewon such studies to set the particular consequences of global warming for mySouth East constituency, where the dense population, long coastline andlow-lying land are increasingly vulnerable.
"Climate change is not just a matter of global weather patterns - it isaffecting and will continue to affect the people and the land of the SouthEast - and this week's storms are a taste of what is to come.
"We are at a crucial stage in the battle to control rising temperatures inthe Earth's atmosphere, but this Government looks likely to give the goahead for new coal-fired power facilities and a massive expansion ofaviation.
"To prevent the devastating consequences of climate change, we should belooking to dramatically reduce CO2 emissions by reducing demand, investingin carbon neutral sources of power and developing widescale energyefficiency measures.
She concluded: "According to the Government's own figures, 30% of the UK'senergy demand could be saved by using energy efficiency technologies thatwould also save more money than they cost to implement."
