Barack Stays Deep Green

Along with the fact that the firm doctrine of Atlanticism means that the White House dictates our foreign policy the importance of the American election is also to be found in that, as the world's last superpower left standing (save perhaps China) their environmental policy will have a substantial impact upon the entire planet. National borders are firm and concrete to the human mind attuned to nationalism but invariably disregarded by carbon dioxide.

This considered it is encouraging to see Obama not abandoning his position on protecting the world from the increasingly fierce scourge of global warming. Having disparraged Robert F. Kennedy Junior here I should mention that his points with regards to the economy and the environment are correct: in a globalised market having large sections of continents buried beneath millions of tonnes of water rarely aids the economy. But the meme that the current recession has made all sensible types shelve their environenmental commitments has started to spread like chlamydia.

This is not the case, it was merely David Cameron. For him it was a useful (if entirely fictional) depiction of a man modernising a political party and now that it's utility seems to be questionable it has been largely abandoned. The Italian government, meanwhile, was never really commited to any Green agenda anyway (although unlike Cameron they refrained from lying about that) but have used the crisis to justify their passivity. 

I can but hope that the approach taken by Obama is emulated over that of Cameron and Berlusconi.