This Wednesday the Conservative administration at Glos County Council formalised a shake-up of the cabinet which saw Cllr Nigel Moor accepting a new brief with responsibility for Environment and Planning, with an emphasis on Climate Change; he will be held to account by the Environment Scrutiny Committee, which is chaired by Cllr Rob Bird.
During debate at the Extraordinary Council Meeting (12/09/18) Stroud Green Party was surprised that the chair of Environment Scrutiny Committee (Cllr Robert Bird) failed to accept that our changing climate is the result of human activity, mostly due to burning fossil fuels. We are writing to Cllr Bird requesting a statement on this and asking him to outline his priorities for the Environment Scrutiny Committee in relation to the GCC’s Climate Change Policy.
Our Political Leaders have a responsibility to protect us from extreme weather, to secure our cherished landscape and countryside and to defend our traditions and livelihoods. To act well they must recognise what is driving our changing climate and then act on this knowledge: if Cllr Bird cannot do this, Gloucestershire deserves a scrutiny chair that can?
Cllr Rachel Smith, who proposed the motion calling for a Cabinet Member for Climate Change, said “Cllr Nigel Moor needs to demonstrate real leadership, to act, to be courageous. He will struggle to do this if senior Conservatives at Shire Hall continue to dismiss the science, and councillors with Rob Bird’s views are given positions of authority”.