From Benny Peiser's Global Warming Policy Foundation

Survey: Overwhelming Majority Of Conservative MPs Are Climate Sceptics

Indian Prime Minister: “Climate Has Not Changed. We Have Changed

Nearly three-quarters of Conservative MPs do not accept that climate change has been proven to be caused by human activity, according to a new poll. The survey of 119 MPs from all parties was commissioned by PRWeek from Populus to establish the attitudes of parliamentarians to climate change and environmental issues as part of a special report on the subject. Only 51 per cent of MPs agree that it is an established fact that global warming is largely man made, though there are substantial differences between parties. A further 18 per cent agree that “man-made climate change is environmentalist propaganda”. --Alex Benady and John Owens, PRWeek, 10 September 2014

The public’s obsession with climate change, a common feature during much of the 1980s and 1990s, has been waning rapidly. The reason for growing climate fatigue is not so much a PR failure. After all, hundreds of millions are being spent each year around the world by thousands of NGOs, green energy lobbies and green government ministers. It is rather that reality no longer corresponds with alarmist predictions. No communication skills can revive the success of bygone scaremongering as long as the actual climate does not conform to apocalyptic predictions made just a few years ago. --Benny Peiser, PRWeek, 10 September 2014

Climate has not changed. We have changed. --Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, New Delhi, 5 September 2014

India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, reportedly will be a no-show at the United Nations climate summit this month. Could it be because he does not accept the science behind climate change? Modi used to be a supporter for climate action. But in public remarks on two occasions in the last week, the leader of one of the fastest growing – and biggest emitting – economies appeared to express doubt about whether climate change was even occurring. So what’s changed? Since his election, Modi has dismantled a number of environmental protections, clearing the way for new coal mines and other industrial projects. He also blocked funds to Greenpeace and other environmental groups and is known to be vehemently anti-NGOs. --Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian, 9 September 2014

Ireland will seek easier targets next month when the European Council is expected to agree a new climate change policy. Government officials have told their EU counterparts Ireland is unlikely to be able to meet 2020 greenhouse gas reduction targets and that this must be recognised before 2030 targets are set by the council in October. A report by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources said Irish officials would seek “a trajectory to 2030″ which “factored in the impact of the economic crash on our ability to invest” in anti-climate change measures. --Shane Phelan, New Irish News, 9 September 2014

A senior European Commission official has told EurActiv.fr that the election of the Polish premier as President of the European Council represents a “challenge for climate negotiations,” as Poland has systematically tried to hold back European climate policy. This sentiment is likely to be echoed by the international community ahead of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference. “Everything has been done to ensure that the climate dossier is not a top priority of the new President of the European Council. His credibility could soon be called into question,” one specialist assured. --EurActiv, 9 September 2014

If Republicans win the Senate in November, the GOP will make energy a priority Senate hopeful says. If Republicans win the Senate in November, Republican Senate candidate Dan Sullivan (Alaska) says the GOP will make energy a priority. “A Republican Senate would approve Keystone XL pipeline jobs, because Canada is our neighbor and ally,” Sullivan said. “We’ll authorize more offshore development, because it’s good for coastal states and the rest of the country. We’ll seize the opportunity to expand our energy trade, because that will benefit our nation, and others who need energy – like Ukraine,” he added. --Laura Barron-Lopez, The Hill, 6 September 2014