Letter: Dirty business

It is deeply worrying to learn that regulations are so lax that oil and gas leaks are taking place weekly off Scotland's coastline (your report, 7 July).

What is more disturbing is that the news comes in the same week the UK government handed oil and gas companies operating in the North Sea a tax break to kick-start new drilling.

We urgently need to see increased protection for our climate and marine environment, rather than even more government incentives to help the industry squeeze every last drop of oil and gas from the North Sea.

Scotland is ideally placed to move away from dirty and polluting fossil fuel industries to cleaner, greener renewables. The news of this terrible track record should spur our politicians into speeding up action to end of our nation's reliance on oil and gas and transform our economy into one that is 100 per cent renewable.

(Dr) Richard Dixon

Director

WWF Scotland

Dunkeld, Perthshire