According to media reports 1 the Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn, is to declare that

• Britain has warmed significantly in the past 30 years, central England by about 1C since the 1970s
• 2006 was the warmest year of the past three decades
• Violent storms are a regular occurrence

This represents selective reporting and is open to interpretation as an attempt to mislead the public. The ABD has some questions for Mr Benn to answer and for journalists to cover when reporting this 'story':

• Why did Mr Benn not look at the temperature trend since the 1930s when post-war production increased carbon dioxide emissions and levels? Could it be because there would be no such rise to report?
• Will he mention that the storm level is only as high as it was at the beginning of the last century, and on a wider basis hurricane experts such as Dr Chris Landsea point out that there is no global warming signal in hurricane data?
• If global warming is to blame, why is Mr Benn not reporting on temperature trends in all other countries?

ABD Environment Spokesman Ben Adams comments:

“This cherry picking amounts to transparent propaganda. The timing is well judged with politicians and activists flying out to Bali, road hauliers considering anti-fuel duty blockades, and a so-called 'eco march' in prospect. Unfortunately for Mr Benn the nature of his statement will raise more questions than it answers in a debate that eco-totalitarians claim is over. Clearly it has barely started.
 
With decades of solar induced climate cooling ahead 2 politicians seem desperate to frighten voters into going along with imminent and unnecessary tax hikes, and controls on individual mobility. When a politician says they will control our planet's complex chaotic nonlinear ocean-atmosphere climate system by hiking tax, the only reaction is to laugh out loud.”