Is the green party over? Is the ferocious rise in energy costs worldwide, driven by the soaring price of oil, undermining all the enthusiasm for saving the planet in the longer term via cutting carbon emissions and penalizing all forms of fossil-fuel consumption?
If the tide is turning in public opinion against these longer range concerns it is certainly not through lack of zeal or activity on the part of climate change policymakers and governments.
Not a day goes by without new measures, new charges and new taxes being proposed to limit carbon emissions — at least in the already industrialized world. British authorities are already talking about still higher consumer taxes on energy, about personal carbon rations and other penalties on fuel consumption. Youthful Foreign Minister David Miliband still believes climate change is the most important international issue and that personal carbon limits on every individual are desirable.