Five Climate Change Questions for Lord Lawson at The Next Big Brexit Debate

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Series: Lord Lawson

By Brendan Montague and Kyla Mandel

Climate science denier Lord Nigel Lawson will be leading the anti-EU campaign in the second major debate in March on the European Union referendum.

The debate, hosted by the Guardian, will see Lawson along with Nigel Farage square off against former Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnson.

Last spring, Prime Minister David Cameron promised in his Conservative Party election manifesto to hold a referendum on the UK’s membership in the EU. It is expected that an in-out referendum will be held before the end of 2017.

So in the lead up to this second debate, DeSmog UK has prepared some questions for Lord Lawson.

1. Lord Lawson, in October you tried to distance your Conservatives for Britain group from the Out campaign led by Nigel Farage. However, you’re both attending this debate to campaign for the same outcome, and you both share the belief that climate change is not man-made, and is not an issue worth worrying about. So, in what ways are you two different?

2. Would leaving the EU make it easier to scrap the Climate Change Act, and should this encourage us to stay or to leave?

3. As a former energy minister and chancellor, and someone who has met with BP and other oil companies since becoming interested in climate change, does the British oil industry want us in or out of Europe?

4. Lord Lawson, you advised Britain should join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) when chancellor in the late 1980s. Not long after, Britain crashed out with disastrous consequences for the economy. In more recent years you advised that global warming had stopped yet we have just experienced the hottest year ever recorded. The consequences could be disastrous. Why should anyone heed your advice on any issue of any consequence again?

5. Does your focus on the Out campaign mean this is an issue that your charity, the Global Warming Policy Foundation, supports? Why or why not? And, does your focus on the Out campaign mean you’ve abandoned your campaign against climate action?

Bonus Question: If Britain does leave the EU, will you remain living in your house in the South of France with all the benefits that being in the European Union confers?

Have any ideas for questions? Feel free to leave them in the comment section below.

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Kyla is a freelance writer and editor with work appearing in the New York Times, National Geographic, HuffPost, Mother Jones, and Outside. She is also a member of the Society for Environmental Journalists.

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