British political parties united in battling global warming

LONDON — Political leaders in the U.S. can't agree about much when it comes to global warming, but British leaders across the political spectrum share a devotion to fighting the problem.

Prime Minister Tony Blair warned Monday that the world is heading toward "disastrous" and "irreversible" climate changes.

Meanwhile, David Cameron, the popular leader of the opposition Conservative Party, vowed to install a wind-power generator and solar panels at the prime minister's residence if he wins the office.

Blair and Cameron are rivals, but their focus on global warming — the subject of a stark British government report released Monday — illustrates the unity among leaders across here on the dangers of climate change and, in the absence of U.S. leadership, their apparent determination to make Britain a world leader on the issue.

In a clear reference to President Bush, Blair used a column in the Sun newspaper Monday to say, "The case for action is the final piece of the jigsaw to convince every single political leader, including those in America, China and India, that this must be top of their agenda."

Blair called the new findings "the most important report on the future which I have received since becoming Prime Minister" nearly a decade ago.

"There's consensus across the political parties on this," said Michael Cox, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics. "And Blair genuinely believes that if the United States is not going to lead on this, then Britain will."

The U.S. chose not to join Europe, Japan and Russia in following the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which mandates cuts in fossil-fuel emissions by 2012, even though the U.S. emits more than any other nation.

The Bush administration cited concerns that the emissions controls would dampen economic growth.

But President Bush this year called for eliminating the nation's "addiction to oil," and British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said she had been encouraged by U.S. steps to join the search for global climate-control measures.

"I don't think there's any question that the approach of the American government has changed over time," Beckett said, noting the U.S. has agreed to participate in ongoing discussions on future approaches to climate control beyond the initial Kyoto period.

British politicians Monday embraced the conclusions of the report by Nicholas Stern, a senior British government economist and former World Bank chief economist.

Stern found that the world will face catastrophic consequences without an urgent international effort to fight climate change.

Chancellor Gordon Brown, who commissioned the study and is Blair's likely successor as prime minister, said new economic opportunities would be created by finding alternative energy sources and other solutions.

He said such moves would create "new markets for new jobs, new technologies, new exports where companies, universities and social enterprises in Britain can lead the world."

Climate change is increasingly dominating British political discourse as leaders take to bicycles and hybrid cars in an effort to be more green than their opponents.

The Conservatives recently adopted a tree as the party's logo, raising eyebrows among many in a party that is generally more committed to lowering taxes than planting trees.

A political cartoon in Monday's Times newspaper here showed Blair, Cameron and Menzies Campbell, leader of the third-largest party, the Liberal Democrats, all hugging trees and pointing at each other, saying, "The other two are faking it!"

Peter Kellner, chairman of the Internet polling firm YouGov, said none of the major British parties has ever had the "intellectual hostility" to climate-change science that is often seen in U.S. political and business circles.

He said political leaders are also reflecting public sentiment.

Polls have consistently shown the British public supporting measures such as higher taxes on sport-utility and other large-engine vehicles, Kellner said.

Seventy-five percent of respondents supported such measures in a July poll, up from 69 percent a year earlier.

Tony Travers, a local-government specialist at the London School of Economics, said British politics were a factor in the emphasis on climate change.

He said Blair needs to demonstrate "traditional left-of-center" values on issues such as the environment and African poverty to blunt criticism that he has led his party rightward.

At the same time, he said, Cameron wants to emphasize his green credentials "to signal that he's not like the old Conservative Party."

Material from the Los Angeles Times is included is this report.