Green charade

Britain, France and Germany want to scrap the European Commission proposal to make all airlines pay a carbon tax for using European Union airspace. (Business, 7 December). Few people will be aware of this unwelcome levy.

The EU wants to force European airlines to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. Foreign airlines and our competitors are laughing at our governments’ fixation with “climate change” while they churn out ever increasing amounts of CO2. Think China, India, Brazil, Indonesia and others. The planet has not been warming for over 16 years and the BBC recently reported “it is more likely than not” that the Earth is entering a period of intense cooling.

Global carbon emissions are set to reach a record 36 billion tonnes this year and this is 61 per cent above 1990 levels agreed by the Kyoto Protocol. Climate-change policies are expected to cost Britain more than £80 billion by the end of the decade. It is time to stop this expensive green charade and that Britain with 1.5 per cent of global emissions can make any difference.

Clark Cross

Springfield Road

Linlithgow, West Lothian