The story of the waste of public funds on 'carbon reduction' consultants in 29th November was, as you commented, unbelievable. This caught my attention as over the last 8 months or so I have been reading up about climate science. I wanted to find scientific justification for CO2 based car taxation. At first it was difficult to find any hard scientific info on the topic, just normal marketing spin. I did however find some scientific details. I was not aware, for instance, that water vapour 2% to 4% of the atmosphere is the primary “greenhouse gas”, by which is meant it has an ability to absorb and re-emit infra red radiation. Carbon dioxide, presently 0.385% of the atmosphere relative to 0.28% in pre-industrial times before 1750, is a significantly less effective absorber of infrared radiation. Carbon dioxide's ability to delay the escape of infrared radiation to space can potentially increase the temperature of the atmosphere. However it follows a logarithmic relationship. This means that for each doubling of concentration there is a set increase in temperature. The computer models on which the 'predictions' of future climate are based include Carbon dioxide / water vapour feedback mechanisms to increase the predicted temperature rise above what Carbon dioxide can cause on its own. All these feed back mechanisms remain unproven. I have read also about the now increasing understanding of the effects of long-term (20 to 30 years) oceanic oscillations. NASA announced earlier this year the Pacific Decadal Oscillation that affects the North Pacific has entered its negative phase. The El Nino southern oscillation, which affects the Southern Pacific, is similar but works over much short time scales, 6 to 18 months. The PDO phases since 1900 align very well with global temperature trends over the same period, i.e. cool 1900 to 1920, warm 1920 to 1945, cool 1945 to 1975, warm 1975 to 2006, 2007 saw cooling and 2008 has been flat. The sun is currently very inactive. Cycle 23 has ended and cycle 24 has started very quietly. Cycle 23 was unusually long, following previously long cycles the following cycle has been of low intensity. So we currently are at a point were we have a quiet sun, are at the end of a 30 year warm phase and the PDO has entered its negative phase. This would suggest that a couple of cool decades is what the climate has in store for us. I cannot see why Carbon Dioxide is being made out to be the problem, certainly not on scientific grounds. From what I can see, the science is in no way settled. Taxation of CO2 emissions also cannot be justified and is just another revenue generation scheme. For further info see: www.wattsupwiththat.com , www.barrettbellamyclimate.com and watch Professor Bob Carter's You Tube video