It was absurd to expect any kind of real debate to emerge within a timeframe of an hour, especially with five political parties present, but still... a lot of ground was covered tonight and I'm glad I went.
The prospect of runaway warming of the planet alongside exponential population growth seems to be the one topic the parties can talk about without the usual sly digs and point scoring.
Everyone agreed that we must come out of the Paris summit in December with meaningful, enforceable legislation on emissions. This will be, as Chris Bowers of the Liberal Democrats described it, "the last chance saloon".
Over the course of the hour, the candidates discussed prosperity vs sustainability, the recently discovered oil under the Weald, insulation of homes, and emissions and air quality.
Indeed, on this last subject I was most alarmed when Purna Sen spoke of the dangerously high levels of air pollution around the Clock Tower in Brighton, an area I pass through everyday. She suggested improvements in traffic flow and less vehicles through the centre of the city might decrease the level of particulates in the air, which seems a much more feasible idea than Nigel Carter of UKIP's suggestion of installing detectors on busy roads which would flash when a certain level of pollution is reached, automatically closing the road until levels are normalised.
Sadly, and in a disappointing consolidation of any preconceptions I had, Mr Carter can only be described as the clown of the evening, at times seemingly wasting the debate's time with total drivel. He opened with his doubts about the reliability of Climate Change science; "Who was responsible for Climate Change before humans?" he asks, explaining that it has been happening for millions of years, and is a natural cycle... The less said the better...
Other more progressively minded candidates discussed ideas like using fossil fuels only when all benign form of energy have been maximised; putting subsidies into insulating homes in order to decrease fuel bills and energy consumption; living within our emission budget, rather than to our energy needs; and creating a just and sustainable world for all, not just the 'developed' nations.
I agree with Caroline's point that environmental consideration needs to figure into every aspect of government policy, from energy consumption to energy generation to the economy to transport to housing to health.
Clarence Mitchell from the Conservatives said that "the Left does not have a monopoly on compassion".
My message to all the candidates, local and national, and whoever represents us in Paris, is
prove it!
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