Climate change welcomer?

It seems that in Wales there's something even worse than being a climate change denier and that's being a `climate change welcomer'. The Welsh First Minister looks to have achieved this lonely and exalted status:

Mr Morgan in a speech on Monday night said: "If our climate in Wales is going to be more like Spain's or southern California's in the summer, then Spain will be more like the Sahara.

"If that is the kind of climate shift we cannot avoid having by 2050, it will hardly be unhelpful to Wales."

During weekly questions the following day, Mr Morgan said he was happy to repeat his comments.

"There is some climate change you can't stop, it's already built into the system and as well as curbing it we need to adapt to it," he argued.

"If the north becomes hotter, it will not be entirely unhelpful."

The response was predictable:

Mr German, AM for south Wales east said he was "amazed" by the first minister's "staggeringly complacent attitude" towards climate change.

He said Wales should play a "leading role" in the green revolution.

"But we cannot do that while we have a "do-nothing" first minister who isn't merely denying climate change, he's positively welcoming it on the grounds that we'd have more sun in the summer," he said.

Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones described Mr Morgan's comments as "remarkable and utterly irresponsible."

Conservative leader, Nick Bourne, said this "blunder" was worse than the first minister's failure to appear at the D-day landings commemorations and gave the impression that Wales did not care about global warming.

Nevertheless, good news was forthcoming:

Meanwhile, a scheme has been launched to plant a tree for every baby and adopted child in Wales from Autumn 2007.