CLIMATEGATE FALLOUT: The Brits Tune Out The Greens.

The long retreat of the global green movement continues, with new news about the collapse in public concern about climate in Britain.

In 2007 19 percent of those asked told British pollsters that climate change was one of the most important problems in the world. These days, despite unremitting green efforts to publicize the view that global warming is driving the world to catastrophe, the Economist informs us that just 4 percent of Brits polled still put it high on the list.

This is not wholly surprising. “Climategate” was widely covered in the British press. There has been a lot of snow. The financial crisis has given many British families something much closer to home to worry about.

Nevertheless the broad collapse of concern about climate in a nature-mad country which agonizes over the fate of its badgers and hedgehogs is not a good sign for the green climate agenda. If the Brits are tuning them out, what chances do the greens have to build powerful public support in countries like India and China?

Trust once lost is hard to regain.