NICE TO SEE THAT MY INFLUENCE EXTENDS TO THE YORKSHIRE POST:

Prince Charles delivered another of his finger-wagging lectures last week instructing people to switch off all their lights and sit in the dark in order to save the planet from global warming.

A few days later he made the 80-mile journey from his home to Ascot racecourse by private helicopter – burning 200 gallons of aviation fuel and releasing 1.3 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Energy Minister Matthew Hancock was in Aberdeen to sign a new climate change deal with the Mexican president – before chartering a private jet for the trip back to London, despite there being 16 scheduled flights for the same journey available that day.

To quote American blogger Glenn Reynolds: “I’ll believe it’s a crisis when the people who tell me it’s a crisis start acting like it’s a crisis.”

Yep. And they’re not.