On this day, December 1 in 2005, newly-minted Opposition leader David Cameron set about “detoxifying the Tory brand” by hugging a husky, and wearing??? a hoodie, and giving a speech at the launch of the Renewable Energy Association…
“Low carbon living should not be a weird and worthy obligation, but a mainstream, aspirational lifestyle choice. Microgeneration and local distribution networks have the potential to capture people’s imagination.”
David Cameron speech at launch of the Renewable Energy Association 1 December 2005
[The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 332ppm. At time of writing it was 419ishppm- but for what it is now,well, see here for the latest.]
The context was this – The Tories were still in the wilderness (though the 2005 election had gone better for them than the last two!) David Cameron knew that he had to paint them as “green” and “modern.” And so he did…
Why this matters.
There are moments of “bi-partisan consensus” – this was the beginning of one of them. The Climate Change Act got through.
What happened next?
Cameron became PM in 2010, thanks to the Lib Dems. Never really interested in anything other than being PM, and by 2013 he was all “cut the green crap.”
And here we are…