The Big Ask
Be like Dr. Who and save the world!

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Have you noticed how messed up the weather is recently? I know the state of the weather is the stalwart of British conversation, but this is not just an icebreaker. (Although to quote last night's news, 'at this rate by 2020 you'll be able to row across the North Pole')

The weather has taken on some worrying characteristics in the last few years, and I'm sure I don't need to tell you the cause of the changes is global warming.

I'm as adverse as the next guy to political extremists, be they on the right or left, but a new campaign by Friends of the Earth is really worth paying attention to and getting involved with, as it's already affecting every single human being on the planet and even immediate action will not completely stop it from affecting generations to come.

Some years ago most of the governments of the world agreed that a) there was a global warming problem and b) they could all work together to do something about it. Since then very little has actually been done.

That's not to say many people have not been working very hard to correct things, just that the people who can do the most have not lived up to their obligations, and that's what Friends of the Earth and Radiohead's Thom Yorke are trying to address with their campaign 'The Big Ask'. ( www.thebigask.com )

The Big Ask is essentially asking the politicians of the UK to make themselves responsible for cutting CO2 emissions by 3% each and every year from now on, and if they don't meet the target to take a pay cut.

Initially my reaction was scepticism, 'surely they wont go for that, and even if they do, we're only one small island', but on reflection this idea has a couple of big things going for it.

Firstly, the politicians work for US - we pay their wages and they represent us, if enough of the voting population show support they will have a big incentive to do what they're told, for fear of more compliant opponents taking their jobs at the next election.

Second point, sure the UK can't do it alone, but leading by example can be a great way to get things moving. If our politicians are going to Brussels (and the rest of the world) and asking leaders to deal with the problem, they will have a lot more weight behind them if their own country is already doing what is being asked.

More than anything, I can't stand the thought that my generation might be the one who could have stopped this but didn't! So I have been to their website and signed the petition (took 2 minutes) and sent an email to my MP direct from their site (took another minute) and while I was there spent less than a second moving my mouse pointer over the checkbox that signs me up for their newsletter.

Please visit them and do the same. www.thebigask.com

Thanks for reading this, I've put my soapbox away and am prepared to talk about cats again.

This article was first published in The Purr Company's regular Mews-letter, visit us for more cat stories and articles, a gallery of our visitors cats , cat videos and our online shop. You may reproduce this article free of charge in any free newsletter or on any free web site on the condition that this resources box is included with any reproduction. © copyright The Purr Company

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