Sir, I was extremely disappointed to read in The Courier’s business section (February 14), that the moratorium on onshore unconventional oil and gas developments does not cover the Cluff Natural Resources underground coal gasification plans.
In all the talk and debate and media coverage about fracking, there has largely been a very odd silence and oversight regarding UCG. This technology is even more unproven and experimental than fracking and it is an unquestionably unconventional method.
Given that it produces a mix of gases for removal and refining and that the access and extraction points would be onshore indeed, with much of the underground resource to be exploited also technically onshore (as in Fife) I fail to see how UCG cannot and does not fall under the moratorium.
In addition, the exclusion of UCG from the moratorium cannot be seen to support the Scottish Government (or SNP) goals regarding sustainable energy production, or for environmental protection. UCG will inevitably contribute to increasing Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Furthermore it raises serious environmental concerns, not least because its effects and problems will be widespread across the ecologically sensitive Forth estuary, but also because it has already shown potentially dangerous concerns (including water contamination) from its activity in Australia.
There is also the worrying issue that Cluff Natural Resources have now entered a partnership with Halliburton. Despite any loose historical Scottish connection through the company name, the implications of this giant energy mogul coming into play with the tycoon Algy Cluff do not bode well for any resistance to change the plans for UCG.
I would hope that the Scottish Government now takes the necessary steps to reconsider and amend the terms of the moratorium to include UCG. In my opinion, it is a major environmental disaster waiting to happen.
Colin Crombie. 35 Montgomery Drive, Leven.
Produce needs to be promoted
Sir, I was really interested by the interview with the newly elected NFU Scotland president, regarding the key issues facing farmers (Allan Bowie sets out his stall, February 14).
I would like to see the public feeling more positive about Scottish farming and I think a great way of doing that is by enthusiastically promoting what we produce. Mr Bowie was right to mention cheeses from Anster at the St Andrews Cheese Company to Criffel at the Loch Arthur Creamery, as Scotland makes some of the best cheeses in the world.
The public primarily shop in supermarkets so I believe that it is hugely important that government applies pressure to retailers to both support these excellent local products and also support the long-term supply chain of these products, to ensure the long-term existence of home produce.
Scott Nicholson. Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate, Perth and North Perthshire. Labour Rooms, Barossa Street, Perth.
Attack ‘grossly offensive’
Sir, I find David Cameron’s attack on obese people too ill to work, and the threat to have their benefits cut, grossly offensive.
As someone who is overweight myself I have found it increasingly difficult to find work as there is unspoken discrimination in the workplace. David Cameron needs to tackle this by bringing in legislation to criminalise obese discrimination.
He fails to see that there are other psychological factors at work in someone who is obese such as depression and low self-esteem. It’s not just about overeating and lack of exercise.
Many organisations designed to help those struggling have had their funding cut substantially; typical Tories’ double standards.
This announcement, of course, comes the same week that fat cats have cost HMRC billions of pounds through tax avoidance. It is nice to know that the Tories have their priorities right.
This couldn’t be a smoke screen could it?
Gordon Kennedy. 117 Simpson Square, Perth.
Undermining family life
Sir, The Scottish Nanny Party is starting its next roll towards total state insanity. The unbelievable legislation to appoint a “state nanny” for every child will be one of the biggest steps ever taken anywhere to undermine family life, individual rights and democracy.
The very concept of handing control and coordination of your child to the state from shortly after its conception, to age 16, is now a virtual certainty. I wish No to a Named Person (NO2NP) every success they will need all of our support.
As yet, I have not seen any mention of, or answers to, some issues that will worry all sane folk:
Will this idiocy apply to the children of all EU citizens in Scotland? Will it apply to the children of non-EU citizens in Scotland?
Will parents have the right of access to the personal records of the named person, to ensure they are not criminals or potential paedophiles?
And, for how many children will each named person have responsibility?
That’s just for starters. It seems to me this is a policy designed to send the sane south.
Mike Scott-Hayward. Sawmill House, Kemback Bridge, Fife.
Hope Obama is as sensible
Sir, Having just read “The Untold History Of The United States of America”, by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick, I realised that I had been conned far more than I thought regarding world politics.
The United States are now meddling in Ukraine, purportedly in the name of freedom. Is this the kind of freedom they apparently support for the Palestinians, and the citizens of Saudi Arabia? They are only interested in freedom that suits their own agenda. When I hear John Kerry talking about freedom it makes me squirm.
When the Ukrainian problem first arose the journalist Peter Hitchens warned that given the Ukrainian record of in-fighting we should keep well clear although he was not confident that the warning would be heeded.
While I realise Russia may not be helping the conflict, if the situation was reversed and a similar situation was occurring in, for example, Mexico on the US border I wonder what the US response would be?
Hopefully the European members of NATO, some of whom have suffered total war on their doorstep, will not support the US in this instance. The arms traders and hawks in the US military can’t wait to escalate the situation .
Thank goodness that in 1962, during the Cuban missile crisis, John F Kennedy, and his brother Robert, achieved a good outcome despite a considerable amount of advice to the contrary from the hawks in the government and military.
Let’s hope Obama will be as sensible.
Robert Thomson. 35 Lindsay Gardens, St Andrews.
Apologies for the confusion
Sir, I wish to clarify one sentence in my letter regarding Pitskelly business park (The Courier, Saturday February 14).
The omission of a simple word may have given the impression I was criticising councillors; nothing could be further from the truth.
The sentence in question should have read: “Perhaps if he (Simon Laird), had, like our locally elected councillors, listened to the democratically expressed will of local residents he would understand the decision.”
My apologies for any confusion caused.
Peter Burke. 14 Collier Street, Carnoustie.
‘Mud on road’ thought . . .
Sir, Now that ploughing season is with us are vulnerable road users especially bikers expected to regard the warning “mud on the road” as an admission of liability, or an attempt to pass the buck, in the event of an accident? Just a thought.
G Stewart. Springbank, Clayholes, by Carnoustie.