BRANSON JOINS IN

by RAY FLEMING
FOR a change, it's been a great week for environmentalists and those trying to raise awareness of global warming and climate change. Yesterday afternoon Richard Branson pledged three billion dollars to fight climate change. Earlier the Sun newspaper told its millions of readers for the first time that “climate change is real”. The Liberal Democrat conference voted for a new tax philosophy increasing taxes on activities and products which contribute directly to global warming; motoring and flying (including Mr Branson's Virgin aircraft) are in the LibDems' sights, which may not be popular inititally but will eventually be seen to make sense. The most spectacular breakthrough of the week came from California where the state's attorney general, Bill Lockyer, launched a complaint against leading car manufacturers for contributing to global warming. Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Chrysler and Nissan were named for “causing significant harm to California's environment, economy, agriculture and public health”. Mr Lockyer said these companies “are costing the state millions of dollars”. This initiative opens up a new front in California's fight to hold back climate change. It is America's most populous state and largest car market, with more than two million new vehicles registered every year (compared to 2.5 million for the entire UK). The car industry has said the lawsuit is ridiculous but the real point of it is to persuade the manufactures to redouble and triple their efforts to make cleaner cars.