LOCAL climate activists are urging Dumfries and Galloway’s MP Alister Jack to back a bill which campaigners say would speed up efforts to tackle climate change, take stronger action to manage carbon emissions and protect species’ habitats.
Members of Extinction Rebellion (XR) Dumfries and Galloway hand-delivered a petition signed by 227 people to Mr Jack’s Dumfries constituency office last Saturday.
They accuse the politician of having a “questionable record on the environment”, highlighting that TheyWorkForYou, a site which tracks MPs voting record, states Mr Jack has “generally voted against measures to prevent climate change”.
The petition demands that the MP votes in favour of the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill currently making its way through parliament, set in motion by the House of Commons’ only Green MP Caroline Lucas and supported by over 100 MPs, Oxfam, Co-op Bank, Christian Climate Action, Save British Farming and a host of local councils.
A spokesperson for XR Dumfries and Galloway said: “Politicians of all stripes talk about their care for the environment but, at this stage, it is actions not words that matter. Alister Jack has a record of opposing climate legislation in parliament and is a member of a cabinet that claims to be a “world leader” on climate change but recently tried to approve new UK coal mines and oilfields.
“We call on Mr Jack to show his commitment to the environment by backing the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill!”
