The power of fashion

Vivienne Westwood once famously stated that she thought fashion to be far more important than education. Tony "education" Blair disagreed with the old punk seamstress of course but perhaps we should not spent too much time considering the views (on fashion or anything else) of a man who spent his leisure time playing air guitar and longing to be Rick Parfitt. We should however never underestimate the power of fashion. Something can be all the rage one moment and consigned to the recycling receptacle of history the next; and this can apply as much to a set of ideas and concerns as to hem length and hairstyle. I mention this because it seems to me that we are hearing a lot less about climate change these days. Does this mean that concerns about global warming are to go the way of acoustic folk and loons, and is that part of the problem?