While Madonna and Justin Timberlake reckon we've only got 4 minutes to save the world, Prince Charles is a little more comforting, postulating a leisurely year and a half before things start to fly apart irretrievably.
In a recent interview, the man who may one day be the greenest King of England ever noted that an area of forest equivalent to England, Wales, and Scotland is hacked down each year, with potentially dire climactic consequences. The Prince noted that trees are the "air-conditioner for the planet", and called for a $30 billion dollar cash infusion of cash to help preserve them.
The Prince's environmental musing don't have quite the influence they would have back in the day when disagreeing with the next King-Emperor could put a couple of English gunboats in your harbour, but his name still opens a few doors. He's already spoken to the leaders of Russia and France, as well as with several large corporations about organizing a partnership of businesses, governments and consumers that would pay countries not to chop down their forests.
Will the deep-pocketed players come to the table before it's too late? It's hard to say, but you've got to admire the Prince for being out there fighting the good fight when he could be retired to an estate in Scotland.
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