The Guardian Environment Blog posted an interesting if chillingly depressing article last week showing how climate change deniers are being recruited to pack a Parliamentary Committee on Climate Change. Cameron’s claims about leading the greenest government ever seem ever more risible. A bunch of scientifically ill informed right wing Tories now seem to be setting Conservative party policy and look increasingly as weird as their counterparts who so dominate Republican politics in USA.

Meanwhile Prince Charles’ attack on the ‘headless chicken brigade’ of climate deniers and the vested interests that they represent is a breath of fresh air. Right of centre politics does not have to be so scientifically idiotic. Angela Merkel’s CDU, along with many European conservative groupings have some pretty well thought out environmental policies and collaborate with left of centre parties to create long term rational policies and practices.

One intriguing question is, if the Conservative Party is to move toward a greener and more scientifically literate position in relation to climate change, who is likely to lead such a grouping? Zac Goldsmith, Laura Sandys or Greg Barker are names that spring to mind. They are members of the 2020 group of conservative MPs, as is my local MP Jesse Norman. He has been pretty quiet on the issue of Climate Change, yet is a potential future party leader. A group of us Herefordian environmentalists have booked an appointment to talk to him on the issue. It should be interesting!

John Gummer (or Lord Deben as he is now known) seems tentatively to be speaking out on this issue, even if he is couching his arguments in strictly economic terms. Currently the right wing, climate change denying forces within the Tory Party seem to be utterly running things, but perhaps the time for a change of direction is sooner than we might have dared to think?

Guardian Environment Blog http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2014/jan/27/ipcc-hearing-uk-us-climate-change?CMP=EMCENVEML1631

Daily Mail on splits in Tory Party http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2513680/Cameron-warned-ditch-green-policies-split-Tory-party.html

Prince Charles in the Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-charles/10610108/Prince-Charles-climate-change-deniers-are-headless-chickens.html

Lord Deben http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/03/green-tories-manifesto-challenge-climate-change-deniers