I was almost convinced that Live Earth was one US import that we wouldn’t bother watching as it seemed so ... well, yesterday. After all, we’d all got the message by now, hadn’t we? Global warming: big floods, mass disruption, polar bears treading water and great English wine. Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth was a brilliant wake up call, but I had the feeling that Brits were awake, finishing breakfast and keen to start doing things.
I was particularly reassured by a recent poll showing that four out of five Londoners believed that climate change was a significant problem. But now I find that a majority of my fellow citizens in the rest of the country are apparently still sceptics and are at the yawning stage of getting their brains to work.

I could blame the American oil men who fund the dubious research into climate change which then appears on even more dubious documentary programs. I could blame the media for sensationalist headlines and over-kill stories of imminent worldwide disaster, which subsequently breed a healthy cynicism about the science.
Except, I've been banging on about climate change for the last 20 years and I know how far we’ve come in the scientists being allowed to get the truth across in a measured, reasonable way. No, I blame the government.
On the one hand we have Tony Blair calling climate change the greatest challenge facing humanity and on the other, we have a government reassurance that it won’t mean an end to cheap flights, plasma screens, patio heaters and a 4x4 in the drive.

Perhaps the reason why 80% of Londoners saw climate change as a serious issue is simply because they are being confronted with some real decision making. Higher parking charges for gas guzzlers are being considered in most local councils and a £25 congestion charge for the big polluters is going to be a hot issue in next year’s Mayoral elections.

Rather than producing more hot air, the national (United Kingdom) government should look at measures which support those Londoners who do take climate change seriously.

 Both the Live Earth concert and the prologue of the Tour de France this weekend will encourage people to do their bit by saving energy and cycling more. But real change can only be achieved if individual action is backed up by hard government decisions aimed at fundamentally changing the way we live.