Enough children!
In her piece on climate change ( 3 May), Joyce Mcmillan talks of the effect on “parents, children and grandchildren”. This is at least obliquer than most speakers’ call to take action “for our children”.
As one of the 20 per cent of Britons who will never have children, I f i nd t his rhetoric clumsy and irritating. It sounds as if I’m being urged to put on a hair shirt for the benefit of the other people’s sprogs. The automatic question is: what sacrifices are you making? Have you cancelled the foreign holiday and scrapped the car? Are you doing the school run on foot and raising them on veggie burgers?
The childless are ahead of you. Those who choose not to have offspring are taking one of the greenest decisions possible, since the press of human numbers is precisely the problem. If you want my sympathy and co- operation, speak to me of preserving the planet for humanity and life in general. Don’t make it about your children. That just looks selfish.
GEORGE BYRON Comely Bank Avenue, Edinburgh
Clark Cross ( Letters, 3 May) does not make it clear in his letter whether he agrees that climate change is happening, or whether he thinks our emissions are a major contributor to this. His letter is simply a list of things we can’t do, because, well, we’re doing them and it would be difficult to change.
However, something being difficult is not sufficient reason for not trying to do something about it, if the need is overwhelming. In advanced countries, the pace of change can be very fast these days.
There are practical things that can be done, the politicians are coming around, and even small countries can be
part of the consensus to promote change in a low- carbon direction. Publicity is important, and the visit of Donald Trump, arch- villain of climate change, should be an occasion for demonstrations which will keep this issue at the top of everyone’s agenda. CRAWFORD MACKIE
Keith Row, Edinburgh
As the debate over man- made climate change heats up ( sorry!) I hear two fallacies regularly repeated by government
and others: 1) “The UK’S greenhouse gas emissions are lower than others’, and falling lower still.” This misleading message should be challenged every time as it excludes significant emissions, eg from aviation and marine transport.
2) “The UK is a small contributor. China emits hugely more than we do. “
For many years we have ‘ exported’ much of our manufacturing to China and elsewhere. The UK, we are told, is the 8th largest economy in
the world. That also makes us one of the largest consumers in the world. Every time we buy a car, or a TV, or a washing machine, or even a pair of trainers, we are asking someone else to fuel the processing of raw materials ( steel, plastic....) on our behalf. And then to ship the stuff halfway round the world to our door.
Our true carbon footprint i ncludes not j ust what we emit locally, but also what we cause to be emitted elsewhere to meet our demands.
ROB PEARSON
Glamis Place Dalgety Bay, Fife