Lobbying my MP - Mark Dowd at the Houses of Parliament Feb 20

Straight down to Westminster this morning for a meeting with my MP, Mark Field, Conservative member for the City of London and Westminster. He allotted me a full 30 mins in his office - is such generosity typical of our representatives?

He had the honesty at the outset to state that he hadn't really made this a huge area of priority and that as a central London MP, he was much more involved in finance and city affairs and regulation. I pointed out to him that Cameron wanted to make the running on this issue and that the 60 % cuts by 2050 target was totally inadequate (it was mooted first in 2000 by a Royal Commission...the science has now totally overtaken this position.) I also mentioned the aviation and shipping loophole and pointed out that the UK send figures on aviation to those who monitor countries' compliance with the 1997 Kyoto Treaty: so all this fuss about "we can't find a fair way to apportion the emissions" does seem a little unreal. As someone said last week: going for serious cuts in greenhouse gas emissions while allowing aviation and shipping is a bit like saying you're going on a totally life changing diet, but chocolate and cakes don't count!!

I think my MP needs bit of convincing. He more than once referred to those who were using this issue as a way of getting at global capitalism. But two good points: he promised to read anything I send him and also to table questions in the House once the Bill gets to the Commons after Easter. Second: he has just had his first child, eight weeks ago. "What kind of world will little Fred be living in if he makes it to the grand old age of 92 in 2100?" he asked. What kind of world indeed? And what will little Fred make of the way his father handled the Climate Change Bill all those years ago while we still had the chance to arrest all this??

So, some Operation Noah briefing papers on the science and why we are going for a 90% cut in CO2 emissions by 2030 are going out in the post.
Watch this space!