Letters - March 7, 2020

The climate emergency is fast approaching chaotic and catastrophic proportions. It is good that local authorities and the Church of England have set a target of 2030 to be zero carbon.

The Government’s zero carbon target by 2050 will come too late to avoid the tipping point of runaway climate change, with devastating consequences.

We are already seeing signs of this happening with the loop back cyclical effect – melting ice caps and permafrost, warming and rising sea levels and increasing extreme weather events.

All this phenomena can be traced back to the use of fossil fuels. We can no longer bury our heads in the mud or think we can hold back the surging waters of the sea and rivers.

As King Canute showed, you cannot hold back the tide, so we cannot hold back the changing forces of nature by telling people that what is happening is not true – that climate change are a hoax.

The recent damaging and more regular storms and floods illustrate the interconnected forces of nature. Global warming is disturbing the weather patterns with the polar vortex interacting with the jet stream to create violent storms and warming, expanding seas releasing more moisture into the atmosphere to cause heavy bursts of rain on land.

So, what can we do to mitigate the impacts of climate change? At a personal level, we must review our lifestyles and change the way we live as consumers of the earth’s limited resources. As Gandhi said: “Be the change that you want to see in the world.”

At the national level, we should press the Government to change its target to 2030 and enact legislation, measures and resources to combat climate change.

At a global level, our Government and non-government agencies should press other countries to be committed to take immediate action on Climate Change, which should be shared at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties in November in Glasgow.

David Penney

Address supplied

Virus

Phone boxes were breeding grounds

Bearing in mind the coronavirus outbreak, should we not be celebrating the demise of red phone boxes? I would suggest that the transmission of infectious disease was highly increased by their use – especially as anyone having symptoms would more than likely have used one to call the doctor.

John E Dodd

via email

Response

Dream is really a nightmare

Seldom have I read a more misguided letter than G. Shepard’s letter of March 3.

In his letter he argues that happiness and well-being are more important than economic growth. In addition to exposing his ignorance of economics and history he singularly fails to define: happiness, economic growth, and poverty.

His claim that the theory of trickle-down economics has been disproved is derisory. Two of the world’s renowned economists have recently praised the theory, with minor reservations, at a conference at the prestigious American university of Stanford.

His praise of the book: The Spirit Level is illuminating. This book published 11 years ago is a left-wing rant that calls for the state to be all powerful. It argues, as Shepherd has echoed, that more equal countries are healthier and happier. Tell this to the millions murdered by Stalin, Mao and the wretched people in North Korea and Venezuela.

The book is a mismash of delusional claims without any empirical evidence to support its juvenile assertions. Like most left wing writing it fails the basic test of believability.

The book is full of holes. If it were a building even a crooked surveyor wouldn’t pass it as structurally sound.

Like Shepherd’s thesis it is of antiquarian interest only. The fact that the likes of Ken Livingstone praised the book tells you everything. The book has been exposed as socio-economic twaddle.

The idea that every major social and health problem is direct linked to income levels is nonsense. The claim that economic growth makes us sicker and that inequality acts like a virus is also nonsense. The dystopian picture painted by Shepherd is based on outmoded knowledge and is riddled with class hatred and envy.

His assertion that the poor locals he meets overseas are more content than us makes one wonder where his travels take him to. Has he been recently to India, Bangladesh, Mali, the Sudan or to any of the 50 American states? I think not. I recommend a trip to parts of Virginia or Georgia where the poverty is grinding and mental problems and suicides are common. The people in these countries will not take kindly to being told that they are content and happy.

Shepherd may dream of living in a cave shorn of capitalist comforts. He will soon realise his dream is a nightmare.

Dr Barry Clayton

Thornton Cleveleys