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Sack Sammy call after climate change ad ban

Monday, 9 February 2009

Environment Minister Sammy Wilson bans adverts warning of the effects of climate change

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Environmentalists called today for the sacking of a Northern Ireland Cabinet minister after he banned an advertising campaign on climate change.

Stormont environment minister Sammy Wilson, who believes mankind is not to blame for global warming, blocked TV and radio ads urging people to reduce their carbon output and use less energy in the home.

The Green party has now tabled a motion in the assembly demanding his removal from office while the SDLP has called on the executive to re-examine his decision.

But the Democratic Unionist East Antrim representative today stood by his decision, claiming the adverts were 'propaganda'.

The Act on CO2 campaign was produced by the Westminster government but as devolved minister Mr Wilson has the authority to prohibit it being run in Northern Ireland.

The Green party's sole representative in the region's Assembly Brian Wilson accused Mr Wilson of being irresponsible.

"While the minister is entitled to his own views, he is not entitled to ignore the overwhelming scientific evidence that man made climate change exists," said the North Down member.

"He is being grossly irresponsible in refusing to encourage energy efficiency and ignoring the benefits that it can help in reducing the costs to many poorer families."

Meanwhile, SDLP environment spokesman Tommy Gallagher said: "This is personal political sabotage of an important public awareness campaign.

"A minister who wants to use devolution powers to censor public service advertisements would be wise to seek consensus in the Assembly.

"This is grandstanding on an extreme and dangerous scale. We need all the awareness campaigns we can get on this issue, and in particular we need to ensure that efforts to combat climate change do not become victims of the downturn. The Minister must be held accountable for his maverick posturing."

But Mr Wilson rejected the criticism and pointed out that the Scottish executive had also stopped the ads being broadcast.

He said the adverts suggested that by switching off a standby light on their TV people could save the world.

"That is patent nonsense," he said.

The campaign was developed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in Whitehall.

While the DUP has made manifesto claims to tackle carbon emissions, Mr Wilson has remained an outspoken sceptic of the view that humans can influence the climate.

Instead, he believes the recent temperature changes are nothing different to the global weather shifts that have occurred over millions of years.

A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said it had only shelved the advertising campaign because it had its own, locally made, adverts.

John Woods, from Friends of the Earth in Northern Ireland, said Mr Wilson was completely irresponsible.

"The reality is that the overwhelming majority of climate scientists believe that our activities are causing global warming and that urgent action is needed to tackle it," he said.

"Reducing energy waste will not only slash emissions - it will also cut fuel bills, tackle fuel poverty and reduce our reliance on the yo-yoing cost of fossil fuels.

"Mr Wilson's antics do not reflect well on First Minister Peter Robinson's judgment and have become an embarrassment to Northern Ireland. We urgently need someone in post that will take this job seriously."

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47 Comments

all you people are under government rule who in turn are ruled by the rich men of this world, so it really dosnt matter who comments about what, what all you people should really be concerned about is the reality that the rich are in total control of our government, and not the public that we think. some mlas can only be as truthful as let by others. sammy say what you believe no matter what others think, they matter not when you tell the truth.
the truth shall set you free!!

Posted by David | 15.02.09, 18:41 GMT

sammy would fit in very well with our southern folk,who have theme parks with people cavorting with dinosaurs.way to go sammy.

Posted by karol | 14.02.09, 08:17 GMT

Sorry Pigeon, Water Vapour only stays for a short while in the atmosphere before being recycled by rain - CO2 stays up for about 100 years - so it's worth doing something about it.

Posted by Eamon | 12.02.09, 13:23 GMT

Sack him and put an adult in charge.

Posted by davy | 10.02.09, 19:59 GMT

Congratulations Sammy Wilson. It is very re-assuring to find a politician with the guts to say what he believes instead of supporting propaganda used to attract green votes and justify increasing taxes. Debates are underway on the blogs of staunch environmentalists Jonathan Porritt (Forum for the Future) and Mark Lynas "World Saved .. " and "A new green era .." involving dogmatic environmentalists and open-minded contributors like myself. Sceptical scientists don't reject the human impact on climate, but debate its significance. There is much evidence that the most significant climate controller is WATER in all forms. Major research into its impact is underway. Carbon dioxide is insignificance by comparison.

Posted by Peter Ridley | 10.02.09, 19:45 GMT

Sammy Wilson should be congratulated for his stance.

95% of the greenhouse effect is caused by WATER VAPOUR. Human-derived CO2 emissions account for only 0.25% of it. Yes, that's A QUARTER OF ONE PERCENT. 99.75% of the greenhouse effect is down to natural causes, and human activities don't make a blind bugger of difference to the climate.

The whole global warming scare was deliberately started by Margaret Thatcher to boost her prominence on the world political stage and to diminish the economic dominance of the US. It was all a load of rubbish from the start - and it's backfired, it's hurt the European economies more than the US's, and it's going to carry on causing hardship for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

Any politician who has the guts to stand up and tell it like it is should be applauded. Human activities DO NOT affect the climate and the sooner people realise this the better for all of us.

Posted by Pigeon | 10.02.09, 19:40 GMT

Who would have thought that the DUP would be the first to challenge this flawed science and propoganda?

I think that people should be asking for the resignation of Gordon Brown for wasting tax payers money on advertising something which is far from proven, at a time when the financial coffers of the country are bleeding.

Well done Sammy: the man who challenged the Emperors new coat.

Posted by Niall Patrick Deehan | 10.02.09, 18:17 GMT

Fair play to Sammy. At least he done something about an issue he felt strongly about. The British government spend money on useless TV adverts convincing us that turning of a TV or adding roof insulation will save the planet, but still toss an entire village and build a new runway at Heathrow. I wonder will they recycle the roof lagging of the 700 houses they intend to destroy. Mayby they will plant a few trees for every family they have moved.
Sammy is right not to show these adverts here. If the British government can convince the public to reduce CO2 they can increase what they create in industry or airline taxes for example.
After all, the Kyoto Protocol stipulates that all GHG is cut by 60% by 2050 in the UK. The government are not willing to try so they fob the effort on to the public.
Global warming is nonsense. We are not sheep.

Posted by David | 10.02.09, 17:39 GMT

It scares me to think that the DUP is the main political party in NI, what with their twisted views on climate change and gay people. They are a disgrace to the people of this nation, and I just hope that in the next local elections people will stand by their beliefs and vote for another party. The DUP are forever involved in controversial outburts, just last week with backdated views on immigration, when will they be deemed responsible?

Posted by Who voted DUP? | 10.02.09, 17:23 GMT

Sammy, Iris, Catriona, Gregory, Conor have all failed shamefully in their jobs - bear in mind that its is the civil servants who advise and run the departments.
I hope you people who voted for these 2 neo-con parties are happy with what you got. Perhaps when the next election comes around you wont vote along sectarian lines and instead think before placing your vote.............chances of that happening - nil.

Posted by Peadar | 10.02.09, 16:36 GMT

For everyone who thinks our Minister for the Environment is funny, haven't you realised the laugh is not just on us - the voters of Northern Ireland but on our childrens children and all future generations who will inherit the planet we leave them.

Remember this is the man who

- did not realise he was required to have a valid MOT for his motorcycle

- thought schools should risk the lives of pupils and parents in the terrible conditions last Monday

COULD EVERYONE REMEMBER UNTIL THE NEXT POLLING DAY, PLEASE.

Posted by Anne | 10.02.09, 14:38 GMT

Sammy Wilson demonstrates that our folks on the hill are determined to wreck whichever department they are responsible for, so they can all get back to what they have built their careers on - small minded politics.

It's time both Sammy and Catriona resigned

Posted by Joe | 10.02.09, 13:44 GMT

Wilson is out of touch with reality. Sack him now.

Posted by Mark | 10.02.09, 13:27 GMT

Although Samy Wilson's appearence on Ali G was embarrassing, and some of his remarks, can seem backward, however I do need to comment on this issue, as it is a gradual argument taking momentum.

Just as there where no "Weapons of Mass Destruction" in Iraq, there IS NO CLIMATE CHANGE. There is no GLOBAL WARMING.

Sammy is right to call for a ban on advertising the nonsense. Unless of course we can look forward to balance in the media, and have adverts that depict NON recycling, and leaving your lights and standby's on as you wish.

I think if you look towards the decision by MP's to allow the Heathrow runway development to continue, despite asking us to "Do you part for the environment", you may begin to understand the con. Think of it this way. The climate change Billion Dollar industry, creates FEAR in order to make profit. Forget so called "Scienific" debate. FOLLOW THE MONEY.

Posted by Gary Hall | 10.02.09, 11:47 GMT

It is very sad to think that Sammy Wilson;has been employed by the assembly to make decisions that will affect the people of Northern Ireland.
He gave no proper evidence to support his claims whilst being interviewed on Channel 4 and can no longer be taken seriously

Posted by Caspar | 10.02.09, 11:40 GMT

If the planet is warming up why is NI so cold and why are our summers not like the South of England and why did the "experts "in the 70's warn of an ice age!

This last week has been a mini climate change,.........but didn't the kids enjoy the snow? Roll on climate change, snow in winter and sun in summer. Just what we need.

Oh, and why can't the Department of Energy devise smaller wind turbines the size of the little hand windmills we had as children that would produce just as much power rather than the big monsters than the Greens say are a eyesore in the countryside.

Posted by mark | 10.02.09, 11:26 GMT

Hmm, I'm not sure if I believe in man made global warming, but in an age when high energy prices and resulting fuel poverty exist it seems like common sense not to waste a finite resource that Northern Ireland has to import as it has no natural sources. So I think Sammy is being extremely naive at best and stupid at worst.

Iris Robinson should keep her views to herself.

Catriona Ruane is taking one of the best education systems in the world and wrecking it.

All in all you people need to stop voting on the basis of division and religion and getting some MLA's in there with common sense and intelligence!

Posted by Bren | 10.02.09, 11:17 GMT

A man who's party colleagues believe the earth came into existence 12,000 years ago. These people are a laughing stock - but someone is voting for them. Who in their right mind?

Posted by Not Acceptable | 10.02.09, 11:16 GMT

I sometimes wonder if the political parties in Northern Ireland use any form of selection criteria, when choosing the people they put forward for election.

It appears some MLAs and local Councillors simply don't have the intellect to properly understand the complex issues, on which they're required to make decisions.

If one good thing comes out of this whole debacle, it might be to make people think about exactly which individuals they're voting into positions of responsibility, rather than just following the tribal herd, as in the past.

Posted by Mary | 10.02.09, 11:05 GMT

Censorship by the DUP yet again!

It's time for these idiots to be removed from positions of responsibility, as they clearly cannot understand what's going on with anything!

Posted by Andrew | 10.02.09, 10:36 GMT