Can you be passionate about the environment and climate change and be a Conservative? I think you can.
In hexham there are big changes in our approach to Climate Change: I was lucky enough to meet with pupils at the Queen Elizabeth High School who are passionate about changing their local environment. I went to a meeting in West Hexham with local environmentalists / Greenpeace representatives, all of whom had attended the climate change rally in early december in london. All were passionate and convincing and we had a great discussion as to what we could do locally, in our area and nationally.
We agreed to keep meeting as the months go on but the most interesting thing was the efforts the pupils are making to change things locally. It is those who will have to deal with the problems of climate change who are more passionate about it, I have found.
In the context of the failures in Copenhagen to reach meaningful accords it is clear that if individuals have the choice they will normally try and live their life in an environmentally aware way; we just need to harness the power of these individuals. In these Hexham pupils we have the makings of leaders for sure.
