Newport West AM Rosemary Butler, the guest speaker at this week's Lent Lecture in St Woolos Cathedral Newport,urged the public to be "missionaries for the environment" and become more aware of the problems which face us all.

She concentrated on two particular issues- global warming and the growing problem of waste.She spelled out how the public can take a more responsible role.

She highlighted the fact that local authorities are rapidly running out of landfill space, and that the public can help by recycling as much as possible. She also wants the public and the government to put more pressure on retailers to reduce packaging.

"The prime objective is to stop creating rubbish in the first place," she said. "We need legislation to curb it. We can't carry on dumping our waste indefinitely."

During the lecture she also examined the various alternatives to landfill. She called for tighter controls and more penalties for fly tippers.

 And on global warming she talked about the Government's renewed interest in tidal power in the Severn Estuary as a way of reducing carbon emissions. The big debate is between supporters of tidal lagoons and a Severn Barrage.

Mrs Butler thinks that a Severn Barrage would be a "two for the price of one" option because it would generate power and protect areas like Newport from flooding in the years to come, when sea levels are expected to rise.

"At present, based on the information we have, I would vote for a barrage," she said.

Her lecture entitled "The Environment- A Race Against Time?" was part of a series of Lent Lectures at the Cathedral to examine current topical issues from a Christian point of view.

Tuesday, March 20