Following our open letter to all 99 Leeds councillors, one agreed to meet with us to discuss it. He was especially interested in this video https://vimeo.com/934299121#t=0 which explains why the CO2 argument is flawed. It was a very amicable meeting which resulted in the following being agreed:
- The councillor will speak to (Conservative) Party colleagues (Leeds has a Labour council) as well as members of the other parties with a view to setting up a seminar with the climate scientist we have been working with. This will hopefully be in person with the option for councillors to “dial in” to the meeting should they wish to do so.
- We, the public, will work our way around the community committee meetings (there are 10 in Leeds which are essentially clusters of 3 Wards) in order to speak in the open forum at each so as to ensure all councillors are aware of the counter argument to Net Zero agenda (though they have all had the open letter sent on 16th April).
- The councillor will speak to the Chair of the Climate Emergency Advisory Committee with a view to securing a debate on the matter of the “climate emergency”.
- We will apply to make a deputation to the full council in either July or September. The full council meetings are webcast which means there is proof of what has been said to them as well as any comments made.
Whilst we wait for things to start moving with the councillor, we are planning a media campaign. To date, we have failed to secure any kind of mainstream advertising. We shouldn’t be surprised about this really although, for a few days, we thought we were making progress with a local advertiser. It seems a more grassroots approach will be needed. Check back soon to find out how we are getting on.
