Thursday’s sage advisors proffer their opinions on subjects including the Euro bail-out, biomass, Dundee’s bus services, and a Galilean approache to science.
Do not leave climate decisions to politiciansSir, Everybody seems to have an opinion on climate change, nuclear power and carbon emissions and nothing seems proven either way, although governments, our own in particular, seem hell-bent on crippling their economies in response to the powerful lobbies supporting only one side of the argument.
I always regarded science and mathematics, as compared with my own studies which involved languages, philosophy and literature, as exact and based on careful research and calculation.
Today, the opposite would seem to be the case, with half-baked theories being transformed into supposedly incontrovertible fact.
Fresh from the laboratory, these theories are blown out of proportion by the media and taken up by political lobbies and, before we know, we are being subjected to yet another round of expensive innovations and irritating restrictions.
In the past, great controversies such as Galileo’s and Darwin’s challenges to traditional beliefs have led to conferences and trials, with scientists on both sides of the debate giving their opinions.
At the moment, all is chaos on the theory side, while all is certainty on the political and power side and, rightly or wrongly, they have swallowed whole the doctrine that the earth is at present suffering irreparable damage from climate change and that we human beings are to blame.
I am a sceptic but a non-scientist and I should dearly love to have the whole argument thrashed out once and for all before we go into self-destruct, not from climate change but from the draconian and devastating measures now being taken by gullible and non-scientific politicians to combat it.
George K. McMillan.5 Mount Tabor Avenue,Perth.Workers were right to strikeSir, The industrial action taken by Dundee bus drivers on Thursday was entirely propitiate and morally defensible.
The fault for passengers being stranded can be laid entirely at the door of the management of National Express.
If an employer tries to arbitrarily impose detrimental changes on workers without consultation then they can expect people to react with anger.
They can’t expect workers to lie down and take it if the employer then tries to brow beat and bully the union organisers who did their job and stood up for their members’ interests.
National Express have demoralised and degraded their workforce and forced them into taking the course of action that they did.
It should act as a warning to other employers across the city that they too may find their workers walking out suddenly if long standing grievances are not listened to or workers feel alienated and exploited.
Alan Hinnrichs.2 Gillespie Terrace,Dundee.We would miss our bus servicesSir, As a regular user of Dundee’s admirable bus services, I was disturbed to hear of the managerial and financial problems facing drivers (May 20).
I think they have a difficult and demanding job, requiring as it does a combination of technical and social skills, often simultaneously.
But they should be in no doubt that their services are appreciated by the public.
A good bus service promotes Scotland’s environmental policy by encouraging us to minimise car use.
Antony Black.79 Blackness Avenue,Dundee.Figures speak for themselvesSir, Stuart Allan (23 May) accuses me of making erroneous statements and then proceeds to recite data-free arguments to support his allegation.
Let me counter by stating some facts based on published data.
Firstly, burning of wood/biomass releases some 1500 kg of CO2 per MW while burning coal releases around 1000 kg of CO2 per MW.
Secondly, there is no way that the fuel requirements of the proposed Dundee plant, or indeed the other three plants proposed for Rosyth, Leith and Grangemouth, can be met from “waste wood” as he alleges.
Forth Energy has stated that the Dundee plant alone would require 1.3 million tonnes of fuel per year. From waste wood? I think not.
Consider some further data. It is documented that a 50MW biomass plant in Vermont requires around 30,000 acres of forest per year and hence the Dundee plant alone, at 120MW, would require nearer 70,000 acres per year. To my mind, that is deforestation, particularly when you scale that up for the four proposed biomass plants.
In any logical argument, these documented figures should speak for themselves.
G. M. Lindsay.Whinfield Gardens,Kinross.More reasons to leave EUSir, The UK has already been obliged to find £12.5 billion to bail out the Euro. This sum is more than twice the whole package of cuts, which the Coalition Government has made so far.
The EU has forced us to contribute to the Euro bailouts by invoking Article 122 of the Lisbon Treaty.
This empowers the Council of Ministers to force all member states to provide financial help to countries hit by “natural disasters”.
This crisis is not a “natural disaster” but was man-made by incompetent politicians.
So Britain and the other two EU nations that sensibly decided to stay outside the Euro, Denmark and Sweden, are now being forced to bail out countries inside the crumbling currency system.
Why are we being forced to bail out a currency we chose not to join?
This is yet another compelling reason to add to the rapidly growing long list of reasons to leave the EU.
Clark Cross.138 Springfield Road,Linlithgow.
Get involved: to have your say on these or any other topics, email your letter to letters@thecourier.co.uk or send to Letters Editor, The Courier, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL.