'Stop playing roulette with the future': Prince Charles blasts big business on climate change

Life must be grand for Prince Charles. Every now and again he gets to leave his ivory tower and come preach to the peasants about how we need to live. According the him, he wants to make it ‘cool not to use stuff’. So, I wonder what "stuff" he'll be giving up then? Maybe he could start by riding public transport with the rest of us plebs instead of chartering his own train to go preach to the masses? Or maybe he could fly with the chickens and goats in economy class instead of using the Queens jet to quickly jet off to Copenhagen to go preach to the gullible about the evils of Global warming? Hey Prince Charles, when you figure out which "stuff" you're going to be giving up, you give me a ring and I'll see if I can do without some of my "stuff" too. You can reach me via my blog which I access via my computer; which is powered by electricity generated by coal-fired power stations - eeeek!!! Yeah, put that in your pipe and smoke it....or otherwise, get back on your "bio-fueled" train and return to your ivory tower. Oh, and don't forget to tell Wills to stop selling commemorative "stuff" for his wedding, which is selling like hot-cakes! It's just adding to your unwanted "stuff"...

The Prince of Wales launched an extraordinary attack on consumer capitalism last night, and said he wanted to make it ‘cool not to use stuff’.


In a hard-hitting speech, he warned against the pursuit of economic growth at the expense of the environment, and condemned global warming sceptics for their ‘corrosive’ impact on public opinion.

As the world struggles to recover from the effects of recession, Prince Charles said those who strived for growth risked playing ‘roulette’ with the future of their grandchildren.

The Prince told MEPs and business leaders: ‘I cannot see how we can possibly maintain the growth of GDP in the long term if we continue to consume our planet as voraciously as we are doing.

‘We have to see that there is a direct relationship between the resilience of Nature’s ecosystems and the resilience of our national economies.’

Business groups blasted the Prince’s comments as ‘unhelpful’.

Federation of Small Businesses spokesman Andrew Cave said: ‘For the vast majority of businesses and unemployed people, I think economic growth is more important than climate change. There is no reason economic growth can’t be done in a green way.’

Phil McCabe, from the Forum of Private Business, added: ‘The comments are unhelpful at a time when small businesses are struggling. It is a difficult issue and it is definitely not black and white but it is important we focus on rebalancing the economy.

Charles’s own green credentials have repeatedly come under fire. A year ago he chartered a coal-powered steam train to give a speech in Manchester about low carbon lifestyles.



And in December 2009, he flew to the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit in the Queen’s Flight - a twin-engined jet.

Read more here