Reducing our demand for energy is key

IN reply to Don Jardine’s letter on March 9. Are you really dismissing the warnings of such respected bodies as the IPCC, the Committee for Climate Change, the International Energy Authority, the Met Office, UK Universities, respected scientists such as Sir

David King and broadcasters such as our national treasure David Attenborough as claims from ‘panic mongers’ and suggesting that instead of them we should follow the advice of Nigel Farage? Have you thought that through?

Do you think that if we simply carry on using coal, oil and gas there will be no consequences? Do you regard the PM and Business Sec and the authors of the Government’s Net Zero Strategy, as a pressure group when they wrote “if we fail to limit global warming to 1.5°C, floods and fires will get more frequent and more fierce, crops will be more likely to fail, and sea levels will rise, driving mass migration as millions are forced from their homes. Above 1.5°C we risk... losing control of our climate for good”.

Is your memory so short as to have forgotten already the shambles Cuadrilla inflicted on Lancashire when they tried to frack Preston New Rd? I haven’t. Yes, we must reduce our dependence on supplies from Russia, but let’s also remember only around 5% of our supplies come from there. And a key way to become independent is to reduce our energy demand as we transition. Check out the CREDS report from Oxford Uni in conjunction with around 20 other UK Universities. Just Google it.

They show that “demand for energy in the UK can be reduced by up to 52% by 2050, whilst enabling improvements in quality of life.”

Isn’t that a better line of enquiry than following the advice of an illinformed amateur like Farage?

Peter Scott Devon