Last night  at a full meeting of Bury Council,  the main business was a motion calling for Bury Council to join with over 50 other Councils, and millions of people and join the 10:10 campaign to pledge to cut CO2 emission in Bury by 10% in 2010.

I had the honour of proposing the Lib Dem motion, my colleague, Cllr Richard Baum seconded. We accepted an appropriate amendment from the Labour Group and for a moment things actually looked positive.

Then the Conservative leader and others spoke against and my heart sank at the utter lack of understanding of the peril many of us may face in our lifetime and the perils our children and grand children will certainly face.

They talked of putting together a strategy, of putting it back until 2011, some even questioned the accepted scientific wisdom that the earth is warming and climate change affect.

Totally missing the point they talked about bringing others on board such as the business community – as it’s difficult in the recession etc.

I pointed out to deaf Conservative ears that action to cut CO2 emissions can save money as well as the planet. That the cost of ignoring climate change would have a devastating affect on businesses, our homes and quality of life. But all to no avail.

Clearly their slogan “vote Conservative, get green – is a non-starter, if not an insult to those that take the future of life on this planet seriously. Bury Conservatives are clueless on the environmental threat faced by the people of Bury , this country, the planet.

It seriously makes you question whether a Conservative Government would be prepared to take the necessary action or would they put it off ’till tomorrow. 

It was depressing, frustrating and in my book a dereliction of duty to those we serve.

You can read my speech to the Council here: climate-change-speech-281009.pdf

If you are concerned about tackling climate change I would urge you to visit the 10:10 website here and like me, join the 10:10 campaign, and encourage others to join. Bury Council may be fiddling while Rome burns but you can still play your part.