Proving a point

John Milne (Letters, 30 June) highlights the superficial nature of politicians’ support for renewable energy production, especially from the point of view of targets, a factor capable of wide-ranging interpretation as well as giving the impression of effective action.

Mr Milne correctly remarks on the self-interest displayed by those benefiting financially at public expense in the wind farm industry, contrasting political enthusiasm and support for it with a lack of proper assessment of claimed benefit.

But there is one totally incongruous element no-one ever seems to mention, and that is the quite unreal apparent unanimity among politicians, especially at the highest levels, in accepting the basic precept of a CO2 threat to human survival. This has never been satisfactorily established.

These are people who routinely and shamelessly pretend to criticise each other for beliefs and actions with which they actually agree, yet who among them speaks out against this most serious – and economically threatening – policy?

It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that two traditional political ploys are at work here: firstly, fear that stepping out of line will jeopardise future personal prospects of advancement; and secondly, that, as in the case of the Edinburgh trams fiasco, it’s too late to turn back without losing face.

In either case, the public need is given no consideration whatever.

Robert Dow

Ormiston Road

Tranent, East Lothian