British Prime Minister Tony Blair to resign, climate legacy mixed
British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced his resignation today in a short speech whose message amounted to, “Sorry about blindly following Bush. Forgive me?” Blair leaves in late June after 10 years at 10 Downing Street, with Finance Minister Gordon Brown expected to replace him. While much of the insta-chatter over Blair’s legacy is focused on Iraq and Ireland, climate change is in the mix. “Tony Blair has made a significant positive contribution to the global debate on climate change, but this has been undermined by his failure to tackle emissions at home,” said Friends of the Earth U.K. head Tony Juniper, noting that U.K. emissions rose during Blair’s tenure. “Blair’s successor must make climate change a priority by putting emissions-reduction at the heart of every policy.” Brown seems likely to try; climate change has been described as one of his cherished policies. Meantime, there’s life in the ol’ Blair yet: he’ll be a major player at June’s G8 summit, where climate will top the agenda.
