"Norman Wells" wrote in message
...

Moreover, if you think Britain carries any weight in this area, you're
sadly and utterly mistaken. Look at how small we are on the map. We have
just 1% of the world's population, and are responsible for just 2% of its
pollution. As President Mugabe said about Gordon Brown, we are just a tiny
little dot.

I think this is an exceptionally powerful argument. Who the hell do we
think we are? When the chips are down, nobody gives a **** what Britain
says or does, and to believe otherwise is extreme hubris.

The possibility of a global agreement, when China, India and the USA don't
seem in the least inclined to join in, seems pretty remote. If they don't
agree swingeing cuts and implement them, anything we do in Britain is
totally irrelevant, so it's pointless trying, and paying a high price for
doing so.

Quite. We may simply succeed in destroying all the things that make our
lives enjoyable, whilst making not the slightest jot of difference to the
fate of the planet.

When it comes to climate change, it is very misleading to say "every little
bit helps", because it doesn't. It's the big bits that help, not the little
bits (the Pareto thing I mentioned elsewhere). The major polluters (which
doesn't include us) must all agree to make the necessary cuts. If they
don't, then there's ABSOLUTELY NO POINT in us doing so in isolation.

Take a look at this to see where we stand:

http://www.solcomhouse.com/toptenco2.htm

We are responsible for 1.7% of the total CO2 production. Also note that our
per capita CO2 production is only 50% higher than in China.

SteveT