Terse reply to letter angers constituent

I recently wrote to Robert Davies, Conservative councillor for Forth and Endrick, regarding the amount of money Stirling Council and other authorities invest in fossil fuel companies.

It amounts to £1.8 million in oil, coal and gas companies and is an investment that I believe undermines local and national efforts to address climate change and represents an unacceptable financial risk to pension-holders.

I don’t mind if he disagrees with my point but, given that this was the first time I had emailed, I was shocked at his response.

It was, in my view, impolite and the tone I found to be rather aggressive.

Furthermore he failed to answer the questions which were: if he agreed that the council should divest its pension fund from fossil fuels and re-invest in ways that benefit the community and what steps the council is taking to end fossil fuel investments and invest responsibly.

Here’s how Councillor Davies replied: “It is not the oil and gas companies that use fossil fuels. It is all of us as consumers, driving, flying, cooking and heating our homes. The companies are merely the agents supplying our requests and demands.

“Unless you want to stop people going on holiday, travelling to work or condemn old people to hypothermia your action is pointless.

“It simply just hands better economic returns to those who understand and accept that energy consumption has been the single biggest contributor to the wellbeing of the human race.”

Rodney Allan, by email

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