‘I can’t believe this’ said Big O ‘people are actually accusing me of being addicted to spending’

‘I’m very disappointed Bo’ said Big O ‘that I haven’t been able to make any progress on reducing carbon emissions’

‘Look’ I said ‘I understand your frustration but I wouldn’t worry about it too much’

‘How can you say that?’ demanded Big O ‘The US is responsible for over a quarter of the world’s carbon emissions and if we don’t take effective action the world will be condemned to suffer the effects of global warming no matter what everyone else does’

‘Couldn’t agree more’ I said

‘Then’ said Big O ‘how could you possibly have such an irresponsible attitude towards action on climate change?’

‘There’s more than one way of looking at the situation’ I replied ‘Let’s suppose for a moment you’re an American citizen in 2080. If you had a choice would you prefer the US President in 2011 to take decisive action to fix the economy or introduce a cap and trade scheme which may help reduce carbon emissions but will certainly make the economy worse’

‘I see where you’re going Bo’ said Big O ‘Would I be better off in 2080 if today’s president took decisive steps to ensure the re-establishment of the US as the world’s predominant economic powerhouse or laid the foundations for a carbon-free future? I’d choose the latter’

‘Very interesting’ I said ‘so in 2080 you would rather be living in a carbon-free, carefree, car-free and comfort-free environment than in the carbon-charged, super comfort of charismatic cyber-space’

‘Well putting it that way’ said Big O ‘the latter sounds more attractive, but you haven’t taken into account that if there isn’t effective action on climate change between now and 2080 by that time I could be living in a hundred degree plus temperatures or beneath the rising sea levels’

‘Look’ I said ‘in the “let’s be absolutely frank” department what are the odds that Al Gore has got it right? If you look at his record over the years on all subjects his strike rate is no better than the average racing tipster’

‘Interesting’ said Big O ‘but I feel I owe it to the American people to take action on global warming’

‘Why?’ I asked ‘Only 59% believe the earth is warming and that’s down from 79% in 2006. Give it another few years and they’ll be putting climate change fanatics in the nut house’

‘But what about the science?’ asked big O ‘that seems pretty settled’

‘Rick Perry doesn’t think so’ I said

‘That’s not surprising’ said Big O ‘If the average temperature reached one hundred and fifty degrees Rick would still believe it’s just a load of hot air. Besides I’ve got this policy to tackle unemployment by creating millions of green jobs’

‘Well’ I remarked ‘it is true there’s potential for creating red, yellow and green jobs but only if you convert all traffic lights to manual’

‘But when I was elected’ said Big O ‘I promised a new chapter in American leadership on climate change’

‘And now it’s time to deliver’ I said ‘by taking action to prevent the poor sods in 2080 suffering the sort of future Al Gore envisaged for them’