More on the Green Alliance

Friends of the Earth have issued a press release today, welcoming the appointment of the Climate Change Committee by the government.

We welcome these appointments. It is clear this is going to be a serious and heavyweight committee, which is much needed if we are to keep future Governments under pressure to bring down emissions from the UK. �What is now needed is for the Climate Change Bill to be amended to ensure that this Committee can advise on a target that takes all emissions into account, including those from aviation and shipping.

Oh dear, thinks I. If FoE are in favour it's unlikely to be a good thing.

So who are these captains of science that have been drafted in to save us from the horrors of global warming? (As I write, it's bitterly cold and pouring with rain, so I could do with a little AGW right now.) The details come from 24Dash.

First up is Adair Turner, who is obviously a NuLab placeman.

Then there's Sir Brian Hoskins, a meteorologist and climatologist from the University of Reading. Among his many acheivements were a contribution to the risible Stern Report.

Lord May is the first interesting one. He's a physicist by training but carved out a career in mathematical ecology. This was followed by a second career as a professional green scaremonger, promoting major green issues from "limits to growth" right through to climate change. He's been described as a "serial alarmist", so I imagine we know what to expect from him.

Then we have Professor Jim Skea who had his first career as a director of a left-wing think tank, and is now head of the UK Energy Research Centre. He turns out to be a member of the Green Alliance, the campaigning group I mentioned in the previous post. No doubt his independence is unimpeachable.

Dr Samuel Fankhauser is an economist who contributed to the IPCC reports.

And lastly is Professor Michael Grubb, another economist, this time from the Carbon Trust. And rather interestingly, another member of the Green Alliance. I feel quite certain that, like Prof Skea, he is a man of independent thought who comes to this job with no preconceptions about conclusions he's going to reach.

The committee is described by Hilary Benn as "independent". The question is: independent of what? Most of them work in the public sector and owe their positions to government advancement. Overwhelmingly "green" in outlook, they've clearly been appointed because the government can be sure of the conclusions they're going to reach.