Prince Charles: A man prepared to put "his" money where his mouth is - WalesOnline

There is no Constitutional or formal role that accompanies the title Prince of Wales, yet Charles has created a full-time career for himself, proving remarkably adept in embracing modern, active and innovative causes with a skill and enthusiasm that has won praise from many, but which has also raised eyebrows in some quarters, particularly when, as in his early days, he advocated theories on such diverse subjects as climate control, the environment and integrated healthcare, that were laughed at when he first spoke, but which have since become accepted practice.

UK: Osborne to change role and downplay green taxes as Tories lose economic battle

The second major change in economic policy will come on green taxes, which are to be downgraded. Osborne believes that two factors have made it more difficult to sell them: the row over the government's plan to increase car tax on gas-guzzling vehicles, which he believes has given such taxes a bad name because these are to apply retrospectively; and the overall economic downturn.

The change on green taxes will have a major impact on Cameron's approach to the environment and his theme of supporting the family. A "family fund" to support tax breaks for couples - gay and straight - is meant to be created from green taxes.

Space Fantasy 2009

The only nugget in The Planetary Society report was it's reference to Earth Observation which like the rest of the planet is the real cash cow in this solar system.

From a public policy perspective investing billions in earth observation over the next 4-8 years could save trillions if the skeptics are right and the planet is fine and on course for an ice age some 2000 years from now.

And the flip side works just as well. As we really do need to know if the goose is cooked and the planet is in trouble. If it is real we will need to take substantial actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

And somewhere in the middle we might just find that Man's impact is just what the terraformers recommend we do to mitigate the ice age a few thousand years from now. It takes science - and lot's of it - to answer these questions.

Two decades ago Bush Senior directed NASA in the wake of the first shuttle disaster and the emerging issue of global warming to invest in earth observation to study this issue and let the scientists do their job.

Twenty years later global warming is one of the biggest issues in the global public policy debate. It's time to solve this riddle and have the knowledge to enable the hard decisions to be taken that could cost trillions and change the course of human civilization.