Tory party and climate change

[Rowanapp]

AIBU unreasonable to ask; if you voted conservative at the last election; what do you think about their lack of impetus and action on climate change? Do you not believe in climate change? Or maybe you do believe but don't think there is any point in acting on it? The tory manifesto was demonstrably the least ambitious on climate and none of the rhetoric makes me think the tories have any intention of actually doing anything meaningful about climate change as that would mean taking on some real vested interests which they have shown themselves unwilling to do.
For me although there was many problems with Corbyn's labour I would always vote for the party with the most ambitious climate program. This is a problem that will be troubling our children, grandchildren and their children long after Brexit, the current economic woes and everything else that was debated in the election is forgotten about. I'm not trying to be goady genuinely interested to know.

@CuriousaboutSamphire Crosspost! Yes the shift away from manufacturing / dependence on imports / lack of carbon accounting for international aviation all muddy the picture on our footprint quite a bit.

There won't be massive public demand as it's still a pretty niche issue.

It doesn't even feature on my list of top issues that would sway how I would vote, and only one member of my very large, political active extended family has an interest in it (and his carbon footprint is bigger than the rest of us put together).

Because the idea of a 'fairer society' is highly subjective, and something that often gets claimed by opposition groups. There's a snide implication that the Tories aren't interested in a fairer society FGS!

I would just point out that I voted LibDem lately - the Tories lost me over Brexit, which I'm still angry about, but I still don't like this cynical attempt to claim 'fairness' (which actually just comes back to 'tax the rich' btw - not exactly an original idea).

Why is it a niche issue though? Do people not believe the science. I have pretty severe climate anxiety. I’ve written to my MP a couple of times and marched in the climate strikes. I’ve added up my personal carbon footprint online and it’s below average but I firmly believe this is not an issue that can ever be solved at the individual level. I just wonder what it would take to make people demand action from their elected representatives.

Outsourced because we buy goods from China - so the CO2 involved in making them is attributed to China

I think that is fine actually. It is the only practical way to do the accounting. Emissions occurring in China must be attributed to China, regardless of where in the world the end-beneficiary of the poduction is. I don't see what practical alternative there is.

That doesn't mean the burden of reduction has to fall on China. If there were a global emissions trading system, the cost would simply be built into the cost of the goods, as it should be. The customer would pay.

if you voted conservative at the last election; what do you think about their lack of impetus and action on climate change? Do you not believe in climate change? Or maybe you do believe but don't think there is any point in acting on it? The tory manifesto was demonstrably the least ambitious on climate and none of the rhetoric makes me think the tories have any intention of actually doing anything meaningful
I can only speak for myself and friends and families who I’ve spoken to about the election but it’s not an issue any of us are concerned about because it doesn’t impact our daily lives. We understand that bad things are happening and will cause issues in future but we’re more concerned about finances and education and that kind of thing. To us, people who worry about climate change are the stereotypical wealthy middle class privileged champagne socialist types. Labour and other parties seemed focussed on issues that were too broad and not impacting the average Joe which is why I think they performed so badly.

Obviously there is no global system to enforce emissions reductions at the moment. We need that. When we have it, the penalty for emissions will initially be paid for in the countries where they occur. However the cost can be passed on to the countries consuming the products of those emissions, so ultimately it will be the consumer that pays.

I think that is fine actually. It is the only practical way to do the accounting. Emissions occurring in China must be attributed to China, regardless of where in the world the end-beneficiary of the poduction is. I don't see what practical alternative there is.

The trouble is that under the current system there is no incentive in the UK to ensure that the emissions of what we consume decrease. So it’s fine to crow about ‘huge’ reduction in emissions but actually very little of the heavy lifting has actually been done in the UK so far.

In the absence of a proper carbon pricing and trading system (unlikely to happen any time soon), domestic policies (and trade deals) need to address our consumption emissions as well as our territorial. If we’re really serious about driving change in other countries we should start with what we’re funding ourselves.

Wasn't it the Tories who tried to shut down the coal industry, while everyone else wailed about it?
Yep - but they weren't doing it for the sake of the environment. They were doing it to smash the Trade Unions and put working class people back in our place.

For example Conservative party appointed Alok Sharma the business secretary to lead the planning for the COP conference - a massive chance to get a workable global solution despite the fact that he generally voted against measures to combat climate change (theyworkforyou.com). And he has another job.

Shutting down the coal industry would have been great if they had invested in green new jobs for the people put out of work by it.

For me although there was many problems with Corbyn's labour I would always vote for the party with the most ambitious climate program

Why is it a niche issue though? Do people not believe the science. I have pretty severe climate anxiety. I’ve written to my MP a couple of times and marched in the climate strikes.

Did you vote Green?

In answer to question about how I voted. I vote green in most elections - council etc and have leafleted for them in the past. As this was first past the post and the labour manifesto was most ambitious on climate and the greens were not going to get in in my area I voted labour. I support PR and voted yes to AV but that didn’t go through.

The climate action tracker has this to say about the uk.The tory party policies are identified as particularly poor in relation to climate change

The climate action tracker in your link only focuses on three other European countries - Norway, Switzerland and Germany.The UK has the same rating as Norway and Switzerland - 'insufficient' - and a better rating than Germany - which has been graded 'highly insufficient'.

Wasn't it the Tories who tried to shut down the coal industry, while everyone else wailed about it? Yep - but they weren't doing it for the sake of the environment.They were doing it to smash the Trade Unions and put working class people back in our place.

Also on the climate action tracker -

"The UK’s primary policy success in addressing climate change so far has been achieved in the electricity sector, with emissions from this sector more than halving between 2013 and 2018.This has primarily been achieved by shutting down coal-fired power stations and investing heavily in renewable energy technologies."

I mean most ambitious of the parties seriously contesting my seat. Obviously the green manifesto was more ambitious overall. Maybe I should have voted green but my (labour) MP also assured me over email he would prioritise environmental concerns.

It's very niche - but those who are interested in it are very interested.

Not something that keeps me awake at night. Polluting less is a good thing, recycling is a good thing, picking litter up is a good thing. I only use public transport, fly maybe every 5 years or so, buy local food where I can etc

I'm interested in seeing changes to laws that encourage companies to think about using less plastics and finding biodegradable alternatives, but I am not interested in signing up for regressive rules and extra taxation when the UK is a tiny country and even if we were completely carbon neutral we would have just about zilch impact on the world.

I would spoil my ballot paper before I would vote for the Green Party - a socialist government is far more of a worry than climate change to me.