EnviroSpin Watch

Well done, the lads! Tabloid Britain has some merits.....

"Half of Britons (52%) think trying to tackle global warming in Britain is a waste of time....."

I clearly fret far too much about my fellow citizens being swept up by foolish hysteria over 'global warming'. The most recent MORI poll demonstrates an admirable imperviousness in the tabloid and red top masses to environmental ecohype. Thank goodness. It seems that doughty commonsense keeps trendy metropolitan fashions firmly in their place. Here's a full report in The (non-tabloid) Scotsman:

'Awareness of Global Warming "Is Low"' (The Scotsman, May 27): "Public understanding of climate change and the international political agenda to tackle this issue is low, according to a poll out today.

Half of Britons have never heard of the Kyoto Agreement – the deal legally binding countries to reducing greenhouse gases and ratified by Europe, Japan and the developing nations.

The findings by Mori Social Research Institute, come on the eve of the release of the Hollywood blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow. [If anything, this will turn them even more off. A howler indeed.]

The report shows the British public may be out of step with Prime Minister Tony Blair’s opinion, that climate change is the most important issue facing the world today.

It also reveals a level of ignorance and scepticism over environmental issues."

I just love down-to-earth British scepticism. I suspect the real interest ranking is:

Beckham and Posh;
Diana still;
=Football (European Cup);
=Fashion;
Terrorism;
Some highly dubious topics;
Iraq war/peace;
Taxes;
Cat-stuck-up-tree;
etc.etc.
This thing about 'the wevver' - "Is it going to be well hot this summer?"

Philip, off to have lunch with the redoubtable Fred Singer. Will be great to see him again in London. Listen out for Fred on the excellent 'Jeremy Vine Show', BBC Radio 2, at 12.30 pm BST (you can listen online).