IF KEN Pearson (letters, September 14) thinks petrol and diesel prices are high he should try travelling by public transport. If I take my family by car to visit relatives in the north of England the petrol for the return trip costs me £60. If we go by train our fares are £160.
It really is time for people in Britain and in the rest of the developed world to think seriously about the impact that our greedy use of fossil fuels is having on the world and the impact it will also have on future generations.
We have already seen massive loss of life in places like Mozambique and Central America from extreme weather events caused by climate change. The world's leading climate scientists who sit on the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predict a global increase in average temperature of 3°C by 2100 if economies continue to rely on fossil fuels — the so-called 'business as usual' scenario.
Sea levels will rise, ocean currents will alter and agricultural and natural ecosystems are unlikely to be able to adapt to the rate of climate change. What state will the world be in for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren?
The fuel tax escalator introduced by the last Tory government was an appropriate 'stick' to encourage people to use their cars less.
However, both Tory and Labour governments have failed to invest the additional revenue this has produced to provide the 'carrot', cheap and efficient public transport. The priority now for the Government should not be to make fuel tax cuts for a short-term gain in popularity but to make the necessary investment in the nation's public transport.
This should be just the start of a real integrated transport policy which would also see the transfer of long distance freight movements from road onto an expanded rail network.
Not only would this reduce the pollution of the global atmosphere, it would also make the streets of our cities, towns and villages safe once again for pedestrians and cyclists.
Martin Quinn
Tavistock Green Party
Old Exeter Road
Tavistock