On this day, December 20, 2007, then-opposition leader David Cameron gave a speech about clean coal in Beijing
“developing green coal will be a priority for a Conservative Government: we will do what it takes to make Britain a world leader in this crucial field.”
The context was –
Globally, there was an upsurge in concern about climate change. It was apparent that coal usage in the majority world was expanding rapidly. Don’t worry, carbon capture and storage will save the day…
In the UK, David Cameron was continuing his efforts to “de-toxify” the Conservative Party brand, by making big empty eco-modernisation promises like this one, which was also an attempt to one-up the Labour government of the day – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/mobile/uk_politics/7153139.stm
Why this matters?
The promises, oh, they are so shiny, so seductive. You’d love to go to sleep to those dulcet tones, wouldn’t you?
What happened next?
Once in office, Cameron did none of this. Of course.
[The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 384ppm. At time of writing it was 419ishppm- but for what it is now,well, see here for the latest.]