Changing Our Carbon-Crunching Lifestyle

Andrew Rawnsley is always worth a read in the Observer.

You would not know it from the huge amount of attention that has recently been lavished on the BNP and the virtually non-existent coverage of the Green party, but the Greens will win many more seats in the local elections than the BNP.

The environment is rarely at the top of pollsters' lists of what is bothering voters, but it does feature strongly in the concerns of women and the liberal middle classes, constituencies that the Tory leader is most actively seeking to woo.

Both [Gordon Brown and David Cameron] are trying to argue that we can have a healthier planet without making any sacrifices to carbon-crunching lifestyles. The two aspirant Prime Ministers only differ about what label they apply to their attempt to find a new Third Way. Mr Cameron calls it 'green growth'; Mr Brown talks about 'the new synthesis'.

I am sure they are right when they contend that technology can help to make growth less harmful to the planet. I am even more certain that they must be wrong if they are arguing that there is a cure for global warming which is entirely painless.

The politician who is really serious about saving the planet is not the one who promises that you won't have to make any sacrifices. The politician who means it is the one who tells you where and how much it is going to hurt. David Cameron and Gordon Brown are both still suggesting that we can have our planet and eat it.