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I’m amazed that the decision to distribute Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” to secondary schools in the UK has been challenged in the High Court. TeacherNet.gov.uk states: “The claim argues that use of the pack and, in particular, showing the film, An Inconvenient Truth, would place LAs and schools in breach of ss. 406 and 407 of the Education Act 1996 (which, respectively, prohibit the promotion of partisan political views and require that when political issues are brought to the attention of pupils, they are offered a balanced presentation of opposing views). On 30 July 2007, Mr Justice Beatson, considering the application on the papers, refused the Claimants permission to proceed with their challenge.”

This was on the grounds that just because Al Gore had been a politician it did not necessarily make the climate change pack partisan or politically biased.

We should encourage reasoned debate and allow for scientific doubt - and a fundamentalist approach on either side helps no-one. But as Bruce Anderson argues in today’s Independent, whilst it is undeniable that the earth’s climate has changed dramatically in the past, “common sense may be on the side of the environmentalal fundamentalists… It does not seem unreasonable to believe that an ecosystem which worked well in earlier millennia might now be under strain.”

With the Stern Report arguing that reducing energy use and wastage and dependence on fossil fuel can benefit economies, it would be best to err on the side of caution as an insurance policy, and take real action to combat climate change even if a small minority have doubts. Best to be safe surely, even though the evidence is overwhelming and appears stronger every day with more news of melting ice caps, extreme weather and habitat destruction.

So it seems not only reasonable but important to me that the most influential voice and the most talked about documentary on climate change - who is anyway far too moderate in his demands and optimistic in his outlook for many environmentalists - should be available for debate in schools, ridiculous that anyone should try and censor it, and simple common sense that this challenge should be rejected.