Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

Saw an ad at the weekend for a new book. "Global Warning: The Last Chance for Change". The last chance? For change? The word "apocalypse" and the phrase "the end is nigh" are probably in there somewhere. Back in November, Rainy Day wrote: "Alternative sources of energy by all means; conservation, recycling and innovation, as well, please. New thinking and new technologies are needed, but what's not needed is the ersatz religion of Global Warming with its hysterical language and utopian notions that border on totalitarianism. Rainy Day is not buying it. Never will."

Last week, we had the pleasure of meeting John Naisbitt, one of the world's foremost futurists and the subject of climate change was very much on the agenda. If you are unfamiliar with the man and his works, it's worth contemplating that 45 years ago he was assistant secretary of education to President John F Kennedy and it's been 25 years since his groundbreaking book Megatrends was published. So, he's got a wealth of experience to call upon when he looks forward.

It was rather comforting to hear someone of Naisbitt's stature say "climate change is a religion, and if you're not a believer, you're an infidel." He went on to point out that Al Gore's documentary is not called "An Inconvenient Conjecture" or "An Inconvenient Supposition" — rather it is called "An Inconvenient Truth", and, as we know, "truth" is very much a term associated with religious conviction. So who gave Al Gore the tablets?

Another sacred text of the new religion is the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change. According to Naisbitt, the report is "straight line extrapolation" and that's not the cleverest way of assessing the future impact of our actions today because change is "discontinuous".

Apart from discussing the hype of doom and gloom, John Naisbitt spoke about China, India, the lack of global leadership, architecture and, a subject very dear to our hearts: the newspaper. He looks upon the decline in newspaper sales with sadness, saying that it represents "the slow death of a culture", but he feels that the newspaper industry must take a lot of the blame for its troubles. He also admitted to being one of those people who start reading at the back with the sports results and scores and then proceed towards the front page. "As I move from the back to the front of the paper, my confidence in the score goes down," he said.