Forty-seven years ago, on this day, May 13th, 1977, Tony Benn, then Energy Minister, met assorted experts at Sunningdale to grapple with nuclear versus solar etc.
NB Wasn’t it Sunningale where the Police ‘processed the Libyans after the Yvonne Fletcher shooting??
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 333ppm. As of 2024 it is 425ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that the British state was in a financial hole. Energy was a big part of the problem,
What we learn is that, well, the civil servants in the nuclear lobby were very powerful and were capable of outwitting the politicians who were not necessarily the sharpest tools in the box.
What happened next, the climate issue was bubbling along. And in 1978, an interdepartmental group was set up to study the issue, producing a pipsqueak report that almost got suppressed or not released, before coming out in February 1980.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
References
Sedgemore, B. 1980. Civilisation: keeping the options open . The Guardian, March 10, p.7
Also on this day:
May 13, 1983 – idiots get their retaliation in first…
May 13, 1991 – UK Energy minister fanboys nuclear as climate solution. Obvs.
May 13, 1992 – Australian business predicts economic armageddon if any greenhouse gas cuts made