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Interesting article with some facts that I'm sure not many were aware of, I certainly wasn't.
It's funny how those who deride Margret Thatcher for the closure of antiquated and uneconomical coal mines, are now calling for exactly the same things to happen, I guess that's narrative and mass media brainwashing for you.
The first important political leader to put global warming on the agenda was a conservative. And not just any conservative, but one with an unmatched capacity to get left-wing blood boiling: Margaret Thatcher.
In those early days, it was environmental degradation by pollution, logging of old-growth forests and dams which were at the top of environmentalists’ concerns. Atmospheric pollution was considered dangerous primarily because of the health effects of particulates, and the threat to the ozone layer.
Thatcher was one of the first politicians – certainly the first world leader – to make an issue of global warming. Unusually for the humanities-laden British political establishment, her Oxford degree was in science. Her early career was as an industrial chemist. Thatcher’s interest in the issue sprang not from ideology and outrage, but education and expertise.
In two important speeches in the late 1980s, she articulated her concerns and demanded global action. In September 1988, in an address to The Royal Society, she said: “t is possible that with all these enormous changes (population, agricultural, use of fossil fuels) concentrated into such a short period of time, we have unwittingly begun a massive experiment with the system of this planet itself. ”
She described dealing with human-induced climate change as one of “the great challenges of the late 20th century.”
In November 1989, in a major speech to the UN General Assembly, Thatcher warned of the “insidious danger” of climate change and “the prospect of irretrievable damage to the atmosphere, to the oceans, to earth itself”. She went on to say: “It is mankind and his activities which are changing the environment of our planet in damaging and dangerous ways … The problem of global climate change is one that affects us all and action will only be effective if it is taken at the international level.”
Perhaps because the early advocacy came from a conservative prime minister, the climate wars have never been a major feature of British politics. If anything, it was Labour who were the laggards, violently objecting to Thatcher’s closure of coal mines. (Although this was done for economic reasons, Thatcher pointed to the environmental benefits as well.) There have been prominent Tory climate sceptics, but they are few and far between.
It's funny how those who deride Margret Thatcher for the closure of antiquated and uneconomical coal mines, are now calling for exactly the same things to happen, I guess that's narrative and mass media brainwashing for you.
Climate wars have not been a feature of British politics. That’s about to change
Labour is widely expected to win next year’s election. But Rishi Sunak is not going to die wondering and is playing the carbon card.
The first important political leader to put global warming on the agenda was a conservative. And not just any conservative, but one with an unmatched capacity to get left-wing blood boiling: Margaret Thatcher.
In those early days, it was environmental degradation by pollution, logging of old-growth forests and dams which were at the top of environmentalists’ concerns. Atmospheric pollution was considered dangerous primarily because of the health effects of particulates, and the threat to the ozone layer.
Thatcher was one of the first politicians – certainly the first world leader – to make an issue of global warming. Unusually for the humanities-laden British political establishment, her Oxford degree was in science. Her early career was as an industrial chemist. Thatcher’s interest in the issue sprang not from ideology and outrage, but education and expertise.
In two important speeches in the late 1980s, she articulated her concerns and demanded global action. In September 1988, in an address to The Royal Society, she said: “t is possible that with all these enormous changes (population, agricultural, use of fossil fuels) concentrated into such a short period of time, we have unwittingly begun a massive experiment with the system of this planet itself. ”
She described dealing with human-induced climate change as one of “the great challenges of the late 20th century.”
In November 1989, in a major speech to the UN General Assembly, Thatcher warned of the “insidious danger” of climate change and “the prospect of irretrievable damage to the atmosphere, to the oceans, to earth itself”. She went on to say: “It is mankind and his activities which are changing the environment of our planet in damaging and dangerous ways … The problem of global climate change is one that affects us all and action will only be effective if it is taken at the international level.”
Perhaps because the early advocacy came from a conservative prime minister, the climate wars have never been a major feature of British politics. If anything, it was Labour who were the laggards, violently objecting to Thatcher’s closure of coal mines. (Although this was done for economic reasons, Thatcher pointed to the environmental benefits as well.) There have been prominent Tory climate sceptics, but they are few and far between.