Well, with the sacking of the drugs advisor we see a certain pragmatic absurdity (big tobacco and big alcohol are fantastic revenue earners and a large slice of what we jokingly call 'industry') creep into government's thinking. Science yes, but not if it involves (makes quote gesture) 'evidence' and 'independent thought'.

Why does this matter so much to environmental activism? Well most of the descriptions of the current problems, likely outcomes and remedies are science-based.They are not based on what would suit us (although I suspect that life without cars might be rather pleasant) or pragmatic/political deals with the devil or (our current political/industrial posture) greenwash and tokenism. We're going to actually have to do something and measure it.