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There is evidence everywhere: firms that once trumpeted sustainability initiatives are now talking only about "profitable growth", "staff retention" and "customer focus", while oil companies have begun digging up tar sands – which produce three times more CO2 than crude oil – to increase supply. Those who oppose the new Manchester congestion charge say the introduction of the scheme when roads are being blockaded by petrol-price protesters is "an act of political suicide".

There has been, in the words of the leading Oxford economist Professor Dieter Helm, a "shift back to the safe territory of concrete and jobs". Despite politicians' continuing green rhetoric, he adds, "it is a sad fact that the environment is one of the first things to suffer" when it comes to actual policy as we tighten our belts in the face of a looming economic slowdown. - The Independent