Friends counter climate denialism
‘The aim is to expose climate deniers and hopefully get them deselected in the run-up to the general elections.’
Friends are backing a network that is working across the UK to tackle climate denialism. The initiative, called MP Watch, has been set up to monitor climate deniers.
Friend Sheila Taylor, who is setting up a group in her local area of Bermondsey, told the Friend: ‘The aim is to expose climate deniers and hopefully get them deselected in the run-up to the general elections.’
Another Quaker, Lesley Grahame, a former Green Party councillor, has set up a group in Norwich and is working for the network at national and local level.
Jessica Townsend, co-founder of the network, told the Friend that there are currently twenty-three groups, either established or in development. ‘We plan to have fifty by the autumn and 100 by early next year. Our emphasis is both climate and honesty. We are working with Mike Berners-Lee on this and we believe that without an honest politics we won’t be able to grapple with the intractable issues we face. Unfortunately, we are very far from having an honest politics right now. I think this emphasis might appeal to Quakers. We would love to grow more groups run by Quakers or with Quaker members. I myself am a Buddhist but I have huge respect for the ethics of hard work and simplicity.’
MP Watch began when Wycombe constituents set up a ‘Steve Baker Watch’ group, due to concerns over their local Conservative MP’s stance on the environment. Steve Baker helped set up the Net Zero Scrutiny Group (NZSG), which has close links to the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a lobbyist group that has been accused of denying climate science.
Comments
I am particularly concerned by the actions of a local individual who has a stall on the High St. in Stroud. He started it during the pandemic promoting the idea that Covid is a scam: he has now moved on to distributing a newspaper of questionable merit called ‘The Light’, which has constantly called the climate crisis ‘a hoax’, and has supported anti semiticism, and also expressed support for someone who asserts the 9/11 twin towers incident was caused by the US Govt. There has been a lot of reaction to this, which he describes as an ‘attack on the freedom of speech’.
By RogerP on 20th July 2023 - 11:28
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