Sammy Wilson: COP26 leaders arrive in gas guzzling cavalcades and private jets yet lecture us on carbon emissions
A letter from Sammy Wilson MP:
As a keen environmentalist, I applaud the commitment by world leaders to end deforestation by 2030. Yet the general public have every right to be sceptical of the COP climate circus taking place in Glasgow.
It has been the decisions of governments to transition from cheap fossil fuels to wood/ethanol fuels which has helped contribute to large scale deforestation.
Indeed, it is only recently and with great fanfare, that the government announced the introduction of E10 petrol. The ethanol for which comes from soya and corn produced on land previously forested but cleared for agriculture.
Rightly, many observers will conclude that those arriving to COP in private jets and gas guzzling cavalcades have lost the moral authority to lecture any of us about our carbon footprints.
Equally, many will be scratching their heads in bewilderment at the suggestion that world leaders can somehow control the earth’s thermostat simply by changing the level of C02 emissions, for which mankind is only responsible for 3%.
Those with a basic knowledge of geography, science and history would know that the earth’s climate is constantly changing and the natural forces which are responsible are well beyond the ability of man to influence.
Little wonder then that many ordinary people, who will be forced to pay higher prices for their energy as a result of the policies being adopted at COP, are baffled by the rhetoric from Glasgow.
Sammy Wilson, DUP MP, East Antrim
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