In the study those who were better at maths made more accurate predictions, as did those with broadly pro-environmental attitudes.

ECONOMIST: Energy conservation

Ms Claussen, a long-time bureaucrat who had often dealt with corporations during international environmental talks, suspected that attitudes in big business were not quite so uniform.

ECONOMIST: Changing the climate of opinion

The environmentalist George Monbiot called the appointments a " declaration of war on the environment" by the prime minister, and there's been plentiful speculation in the media on the ministers' attitudes on this key environmental issue.

BBC: Harrabin's Notes: Climate shuffles