Readers' Letters: History shows we never take the long view

When I was at college many years ago we had a great talk on nuclear power and the future. I was as enthralled as anyone. No one wondered about how to dispose of 30, 40, 50-year-old radioactive buildings and equipment. No one worried about radioactive waste disposal or the consequences of letting half a ton of plutonium lie at the bottom of the Irish Sea.

Rods are loaded into baskets for the charging room at Calder Hall, Cumberland, the world's first full scale atomic power plant, in 1956. (Picture: Getty Images)

No one envisaged Chernobyl or Fukushima, the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania or knew about the Calder Hall accident in Cumbria. No one thought about tomorrow.

Climate change is real. It is not a threat to the planet or to life itself. It is a threat to the survival of humans and many animals. We have not thought about the future, just our survival. Who will admire the rusting relics of the offshore wind farms in 50 years’ time? Just what will we do with millions upon millions of tons of batteries in piles bigger than the pit heaps, causing more poisoning of the surroundings than coal ever did? What will we do with the land ruined by mining all those rare earths? Rare means you get a lot of spoil just to get a little of these elements.

Why do we keep cows when they produce methane and take up land that could feed five times as many people? We mine coal, the burning of which pollutes the atmosphere to kill many more.

What, then, should we do? Talk some more? We need to act now but before that we need to think with honesty. People die rather than think, and do so all the time. My early experience was innocent ignorance on mine and my fellow students’ part. Since then innocence and ignorance have been replaced by manipulation, by managed truths or, more accurately, downright lies. For humans to survive we need to think. The earth will not mourn our passing. In a million years even the plutonium will be gone.

Ken Carew, Dumfries, Dumfries & Galloway

The real GDP

Your editorial (15 November) is balanced between optimism and pessimism. I fall into the latter camp regarding the climate crisis – reforestation, for example, though vital will take decades to redress the CO2 imbalance. GDP is the holy grail of consumerism driven by unfettered market forces focused on increased growth, profit and shareholder dividend. If allowed to go unchecked it will lead to a different GDP – Gross Destruction of the Planet.

The rich and major polluting countries of the world, need to do a “screeching U-turn” and begin phasing out (not down) all fossil fuels immediately. The science is unequivocal about the urgency with which all countries must cut emissions. That means in the UK, no Cambo and no Cumbrian coalfield.

We need to mobilise, like on a war footing, manpower, brainpower, manufacturing, technology and finance to store and electrolyse green hydrogen and all wasted/exported renewable energy (wind and solar).

In Wales, new social housing is already self-sufficient in electricity by storing unused solar power for when the sun sets.

My local hydrogen powered bus is extremely quiet, smooth (low vibration) with rapid acceleration and no greenhouse gas emissions. Hydrogen-powered vehicles are the future. There should be green hydrogen hubs, not just in Aberdeen, but in all major cities in Scotland.

The challenge is to accelerate the pace of change now to revive 1.5C. If we are to save the planet for future generations it has to be no more GDP – think green hydrogen!

DW Lowden, Aberdeen

Thou shalt not cull

Elizabeth Marshall (Letters, 16 November) is rightly worried that the relentless increases in the planet's population are consuming too many of its resources, including the spaces they occupy.

One of her main concerns about the world's population “explosion” is its likely impact on climate. Although she may well be right there, the COP26 meetings did not include the influences of runaway populations on our climate. Perhaps the topic is too difficult to allow any agreement to be reached. Because it is very hard indeed to predict practical international actions to reduce the world's population without starting utterly inhumane killings, that idea is surely a non-starter.

Can readers suggest safe, moral means of world population control?

Charles Wardrop, Perth, Perth and Kinross

Pass marks

In her statement this week in the Scottish Parliament, the First Minister confirmed that extending the vaccine passport scheme was under consideration for additional hospitality venues. A decision on this will be made next week.

I was fortunate enough to visit France in September this year. On 9 August, France introduced its vaccine passport for all cafes, bars and restaurants. You scan your NHS QR code into the “TousAntiCovid” app and are good to go.

It was business as usual in the busy cafes and restaurants I visited. Without exception, they all had “Pass Obligatoire” signage outside and staff simply scan your pass as you enter. I witnessed no problems with people providing their pass and it was evident that it was becoming the norm. Cafe owners were just getting on with it.

The concerns of businesses are understandable but, given my experience in France, I would suggest these concerns are unfounded.

Carter Thomson, Isle of Jura, Argyll and Bute

Boosters required

Currently, France (for over-65s only), Switzerland, Austria, Croatia and Israel are deeming initial Covid protection to last for only six to 12 months following the second vaccination. They will want to see proof of a booster to allow trouble free travel/social activity. I expect that this list of countries requiring evidence of booster doses will grow.

It would appear that the Scottish Government has two options in respect of its own citizens and foreign travel: 1) Ignore the issue until the 11th hour, panic, then spend an eye-watering sum to retrospectively fix the problem. The initial roll-out of this hurried fix will be flawed, causing practical problems for travellers. 2) Address the problem now, well before peak travel season in spring, which is also likely to coincide with many initial vaccinations “expiring” for overseas travel purposes.

Precedent suggests option 1) is likely to be adopted. My advice would be to adopt option 2), gain brownie points for incredible foresight and perhaps save a few quid into the bargain.

Paul Marsden, Ecclefechan, Dumfries and Galloway

As Rome burns

Murdo Fraser’s weekly column increasingly seems written from a perspective that Scotland is already independent. Rarely does he mention the UK Tory government, focusing purely on what he regards as the failings of the Scottish Government. This is fine up to a point, but for me and many others there is only one story he should be addressing.We are witnessing presently the most corrupt and incompetent UK government in living memory where billions of pounds have been given out to Tory donors and honours are given out like confetti, again to Tory donors. There are attempts to change the rules to save a friend who has acted ill advisedly and a Prime Minister and his ministerial acolytes lying daily about how contracts were awarded. There is the ignoring of the findings of independent inquiries, a Prime Minister who avoids scrutiny by not turning up to Parliament, Tory MPs who make huge amounts of money in second and third jobs purely because they are MPs and even more rule changes so Boris can install one of his right-wing friends into a hugely influential media watchdog position. And that’s all before one considers the utter catastrophe of Brexit.

Murdo Fraser has every right to criticise Nicola Sturgeon for any perceived shortcomings but it is a little like someone complaining about a weed in their garden while behind them their house is engulfed in flames.

D Mitchell, Edinburgh

A quiet crisis

It's understandable that Scottish newspapers should focus mainly on Scottish/UK stories, but I'm surprised how little coverage the migrant crisis at the Belarus/Poland border has received. It's clearly part of the ongoing US/Russia standoff, with the proxies Belarus and the EU roped in. The standoff includes the Nord Stream2 issue, and could result in a very cold continental winter. There's a heady military brew in the whole area, including the Black Sea, with accusations flying (ordnance and jet fighters too). Add to that the escalating Chinese claim on Taiwan, and the planet is far more endangered by war than by climate change, a relatively gradual process to which species can adapt.

War, even by misunderstanding or a rogue algorithm, is an ever-present risk. And in the age of hypersonic missiles the next one wll be very short and very nasty.

George Morton, Rosyth, Fife

Bitter bounty

Off I go to the supermarket with two bags, one for me and the other for the food bank. Fresh sugar snap peas for me, and tinned peas for the food bank. Roast chicken for me, a longlife plastic pouch of chicken korma for the food bank. Colombian ground coffee for my coffee machine, own brand instant coffee for the food bank. Their supper, my choice.The dignity of choice disappeared with the current UK Government. Since 2015 the number of emergency food parcels distributed in Britain by Trussell Trust food banks alone has risen from just over one million to over two and a half million – an increase of nearly 130 per cent in just 5 years.How do we achieve a wellbeing economy that allows dignity back in the door of every household? Food bank use declined with the £20 a week uplift to Universal Credit. It is now firmly back on the menu.

Frances Scott, Edinburgh

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