Fuel Foolery

It appears that New Labour's measures to build a new generation of nuclear power stations upon those parts of the country not covered by Heathrow Airport will not be quite enough to satisfy the Glorious Successor's lust for direct action on climate change, even when coupled with the Environment Secretary's recent orgasm over the Bali waterdown. Like Britain's greatest and most fragrant ally, Gordon is not the kind to allow the letter, let alone the spirit, of a mere international agreement to stand in the way of his doing what is right. Accordingly, Gordon is considering plans to build the first new coal-fired power stations in thirty years. The director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies seems to think this would be a bad idea. "There is much more CO2 in coal than there is in oil, and oil is going to run out. There is enough CO2 in coal to take us far beyond the dangerous level to produce a different planet," he said. "The strange thing is that in the countries that talk the greenest, like Germany and Britain, the policymakers just don't yet get it." The shy implicit optimism of that yet is rather touching, is it not? Fortunately, Gordon has never prided himself on scientific thinking; only on Britishness, piety and a steady hand on the economic tiller as long as the goodwill of the global markets held out.