The UK Environment Secretary David Miliband has said that dealing with climate change does not only help the environment but bring a “peace dividend” because the world’s “oil dependence creates real danger”.
Mr Miliband said it was “right” for a growing movement in the US to push for energy independence in the United States, “focusing mainly on the hidden costs of Middle East oil”.
“The cause of energy security can help the world develop the ambition, pace and institutions to move to embrace environmental sustainability.”
By moving towards a low-carbon society, he said that “a post-oil economy is not an unrealistic prospect.” Miliband said: “Over a 20-year period, it is possible to imagine the car industry providing the investment and innovation required to move to a post-oil economy, if governments, preferably across a major market such as the EU, can provide a clear long term signal about the regulatory landscape.”
Maybe Miliband should explain to Bush how in the Middle East, oil and war are inseparable. He should also pressurise his own government to campaign to rip up Iraq’s controversial Oil Law.