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Michael Gove today described himself as a “shy green”.  Really?  His voting record shows that he must have been so shy as to be unheard of positively on environmental issues in the past. And the Green Party , among many others are questioning his appointment:

Here’s how Gove showed his “shyness” in the past:

1. Gove is not a believer in climate change and wanted mention of it eliminated from school curricula when he was Education Secretary. Gove has generally voted against measures to prevent climate change.

2. Gove has generally voted to support fracking.

3. Gove has consistently voted for selling England’s forests.

4. At best, Gove has a mixed voting record on financial incentives for low carbon emission electricity generation.

5. Gove voted for culling badgers to tackle bovine tuberculosis.

But that is pretty much in lock-step with the Conservative Party line.

Theresa May seems to believe that the Environment portfolio can be handed to politicians with a negative voting record on environmental issues. Yet those issues resonate soundly with demands for positive change according to the majority opinions of the UK public.

Her appointment before Gove was Andrea Leadsom.  She had almost the exact same voting record as Gove on environmental issues.

 No wonder we who are concerned about the environment are shaking our heads in amazement at both Gove’s appointment and his  adoption of a “shy green” persona? 

So here is your chance, Environment Secretary Gove.  Now that you are in Cabinet, you have the chance not to be a “shy green” but an “outspoken green”. We challenge you to ensure that the UK no longer imports lion hunting trophies, that the UK implements a complete ban on the sale of  ivory, that the fox hunting ban stays in place, that badgers are not culled, that the forests are not sold, and that you take climate change very, very seriously. 

Our door is always open for a positive discussion.

Picture credit: independent.co.uk