If - as looks highly likely - the government gives the green light to the first coal-fired power station in Britain for more than 30 years during the next few days it will immediately undermine much of the goodwill engendered by Gordon Brown in his stirring speech on climate change yesterday.
There are many who felt before yesterday that Gordon really did not "get it" on global warming in the way that his predecessor, for all his other faults, did. But Brown's first speech on the environment as prime minister began to wipe away some of that scepticism.
Clearly he was much stronger on concepts than policies but at least the words conveyed the right sense of urgency and suggested a keen understanding of the issues.
It raised hopes although those watching the BBC's Newsnight programme later that evening will have felt measure of distinct uneasiness.
Under detailed questioning, energy minister Malcolm Wicks was on the ropes for much of the programme - unable to explain a number of wider government policy issues that undermined and contradicted the new commitment to going green. Not the least was the unwillingness to halt airport expansion and ensure growing carbon emissions from aviation and shipping were robustly tackled.
Wicks did not say that the government would definitely proceed with a new generation of coal-fired power stations starting with the proposed plans for Kingsnorth in Kent. But neither did he say it would be stopped and the body language left a clear presumption that German utility E.ON is going to be given the go ahead. That would be disastrous.
Any "yes" from the government will be wrapped up in soothing words about how the new super critical plants planned for Kingsnorth would be far more efficient than the ones they will replace. There will also be reference to carbon capture and sequestration. But the fact is the two new power stations with a combined output of 800MW will only cut C02 emissions per unit of electricity by 20% on the current facilities and carbon capture will only be used if, according to E.ON, if can be "incentivised by a suitable framework and technological hurdles for the process overcome."
Neither of those two conditions can be guaranteed at this stage and the government should not be banking on it happening. But doesn't it send a very strange message to those developing countries who have been told to show carbon restraint in building new coal plants - such as China and India - and dangerously undermine Brown's green message at home?
