If this were a traditional aluminium-bodied car, we would now be picking bits of it off the floor and Cowboy would be looking quite sheepish.

BBC: Trick of the light: A California road trip

Instead, looking somewhat sheepish, he announced in Sydney on April 27th that the government would now do nothing until the period covered by the Kyoto protocol ends in late 2012.

ECONOMIST: Make us greener, oh lord. But not yet