Date published: 2007/05/13
The BBC says:
Government, business and consumers need to cooperate to reduce climate change, Environment Secretary David Miliband has said.
Mr Miliband was speaking at the first Climate Change Citizens' Summit in London, part of a draft Climate Change Bill consultation process.
"I hope this summit will encourage people to take action," he said.
The draft Climate Change Bill is the first of its kind in the world and will set a framework to cut carbon emissions
The summit, organised by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), will help shape official policy to help keep people informed and aware of the issue.
...
A panel of 150 people from six areas of the country will be asked three questions.
- Do you think there should be legally-binding targets for government to ensure that the UK reduces CO2 emissions?
- How can government, business, the workforce and citizens work together efficiently to reduce CO2 emissions?
- How can government, business, the workforce and citizens work together effectively to encourage us all as individuals to make personal behaviour changes?
Defra has said the draft bill would have a full public consultation along with pre-legislative scrutiny in parliament.
Poor Mr Miliband. He does mean well (or at least seems to mean well). But how were the 150 people chosen? If they are mainly the usual suspects (the academic middle class, etc.) then you could write up the conclusions already. So, the answers are:
If instead the panel is made up of some randomly chosen members of the general public, then how much time and effort is going to be put in so that they actually have any hope of understanding the complexities of the issues, in order to that they might give any kind of sensible input. Probably no time or effort, so the result will just be what DEFRA wants the result to be (i.e. the above, academic middle class, answers). This whole "consultation" process is just a big waste of money.
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