Are the eco warriors right to protest on the streets?

WHY all the vitriol against the eco protesters? My grandchildren in their late teens and early 20s can’t afford to take a relaxed view about climate change. By the time they are 50, they might be hit by climatic disasters. The governance of the globe is in the hands of middle-aged and old people, most of them mega-wealthy. None will be alive when the chickens come home to roost. Why should young people sit back and take the word of uncaring leaders such as Donald Trump? They have a right to peaceful protest. A few disrupted rail journeys to work will seem as nothing in the future when food becomes scarce and unaffordable. Reasoned argument has failed, so positive and disruptive action is the way forward.

R. HAVENHAND, Nantwich, Cheshire. ECO warriors? Don’t make me laugh. If they are so worried about the environment, why are they wearing polyester jackets, Lycra gym kit and plastic sunglasses? And what about food packaging and plastic bottles? A better use of their time and energy would have been litter picking in their local area, instead of blocking London’s roads and targeting Heathrow.

SHARON AITKEN, Buckingham.

THE fact that some of the Extinction Rebellion eco-campaigners live less than perfect personal lives, come from middle-class or even posh backgrounds, or wear mass-produced clothes does not invalidate the importance of the ecological crisis their protest highlights. Don’t dismiss the importance of taking alternative political action when traditional forms of lobbying have failed to secure the urgent action needed. Even the wonderful TV documentary by Sir David Attenborough about plastic pollution in the oceans was not sufficient to kick-start political action. Only public protest works.

Dr DAVID LOWRY, Cambridge, Mass, U.S. THE protesters say they will ‘keep this up until the politicians listen’. This means they will continue to cause maximum inconvenience to commuters and millions in losses to businesses unless their ideas prevail. No room for other opinions, no admitting they might be exaggerating the danger, no consideration of the infinitesimal difference to the world that adopting such drastic ideas in this country would create. Blocking streets and picketing Heathrow goes far beyond protest.

J. LONG, Cheltenham, Glos.