Letters round-up

I HAVE said it before and must repeat it. What we know as anthropomorphic (man-made) climate change is a very complex phenomenon. Whether man’s influence affects natural processes, or if natural processes create synergistic reactions with our activities to cause this, is difficult to determine. This is a problem of being on the inside and trying to look inward.

There is a manifest correlation, point to point, over the past 2,000 years between world population, carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere and average global temperature. Everyone likes to blame carbon dioxide for our ill effects and few dare blame the magnitude, 7,500,000,000 and growing, of the population. It is not politically correct.

As a result, fossil fuels are the scapegoat for our troubles, an understandable attitude. Renewable sources are treated as a salvation. A rallying cry of, “we must do something to counter this threat”. Certainly. But what? Reduce the use of fossil fuels (coal, gas, oil) – difficult considering our current dependency; reduce the population (a non-starter); reduce the use of energy generally (not in the interest of the domestic market); increase the use of renewable energy (sounds good).

If we want our energy on demand, at the flick of a switch or turn of a tap, then wind, solar, tidal and wave sources cannot provide it reliably.

Nuclear energy is something which the population wishes not to consider. In the face of this, we are told, “scientists will provide the answer”. But do not hold your breath. For example, nuclear fusion energy research has been going on, to my knowledge, for 50 years with little promise of a practical solution, promises – yes.

The current project ITER, at Caradache in France, will run on for many years yet.

One renewable source which has Government support and subsidy is the use of bio-mass, wood. This is being carried out at DRAX Electricity Generating Station.

I am a chartered engineer with a lifetime working in the electricity generating industry with a knowledge of energy utilisation.

As a body, engineers can develop a cynicism, not necessarily negative, which allows analysis. A comparison, as yet uncompleted, of the use of coal and bio-mass to generate electricity, based on the DRAX project, suggests to me,that burning carbon dioxide-ameliorated bio-mass is no better than burning coal for the residual release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

This bit of a sting-in-the-tail is a consequence of a little-known and poorly understood law of nature – the Second Law of Thermodynamics. It has been in the universe for about 13,500 million years and we ignore it in the long term at our peril.

D M Loxley, Pickering

Make it public

REMEMBER the Defra report “Shale Gas: Rural Economy Impacts”? The report that was heavily censored, (or “redacted”) blacking out several sections including those on the rural economy, local services, house prices and “three major social impacts associated with shale gas activities”?

Last week, the Information Commissioner ordered the Government to publish it in full as being in the public interest.

It seems likely that the Government will appeal against this order and try to keep the report buried. However, our councils, district and county, must have the information contained in this report if they are to make informed decisions about the forthcoming application to start fracking in Ryedale.

I hope that our MP and councillors will use all their influence to urge the Government to act with transparency and let us know what their own researches have concluded about the effects of fracking. Refusal to publish will leave us all to draw our own conclusions.

Rosalind Field, Gilling East

Answering critics

I AM grateful to Di Keal, the Liberal Democrat candidate for the May General Election for asking me to set out my position on matters, including MP’s pay, (Letters, June 17).

MP’s pay is now set by an independent body, IPSA. Personally, I think the idea of a 10 per cent pay rise in one year, at a time of public sector pay restraint is simply unacceptable and I have made that point to IPSA.

Our annual deficit is still over £87bn and we are therefore unable to give public sector workers pay increases in accordance with their own independent review. I think that this would be the wrong time to offer any increase to those in charge of those decisions and the wider economy. To my mind, the increase should be deferred until the situation improves and everyone is able to receive a fair increase.

Would I give any increase that is finally agreed to charity? I think it would be wrong to try to make any political capital out of charity giving, so will decline to comment.

Will I be a part-time MP? Absolutely not. Everything I have achieved in my life has been due to sheer hard work and the support of many excellent colleagues.

Luckily, these colleagues now look after my business interests. Although I will still be involved in monthly board meetings, this will not get in the way of my parliamentary and constituency responsibilities.

I would ask people to consider what kind of politicians they want; those who have spent a lifetime building a political career or those who have real-world experience in areas of education, medicine, the Armed forces or business? If the latter, then I think it is unrealistic for those people to completely sever all ties.

Finally, foodbanks. Yes, there has been a significant rise in the use of food banks, including those provided by local churches that do such great work in Ryedale.

Foodbank use is usually a short-term problem, benefit delays or people leading a life on benefits and moving into work can lead to cash-flow problems.

Due to benefit reforms, 600,000 workless families are now back in work since 2010, a real win-win situation for the country and every single family concerned.

The fine work local people do in these situations is an excellent example of how communities help each other in times of need, and they do it much more efficiently than the government ever could.

Kevin Hollinrake, MP for the Thirsk and Malton constituency

IN reference to the letter from D Keal regarding Kevin Hollinrake (June 17), I despair of people who write such letters.

The letter sounds like it is from a resentful, old-fashioned left-winger who time has forgotten.

The voters in the May general election clearly indicated a preference for a sensible management of the economy.

Her digs at Mr Hollinrake’s business interest say it all.

She hasn’t worked out that his business probably took an extraordinary amount of hard work to get going and expand.

She certainly doesn’t connect the fact that, now that it is successful, it is employing people all around the region.

This is what we need to provide for our grandchildren’s futures: education, businesses and employment.

The final bleat about “cuts that he and his Tory colleagues are going to introduce” shows a complete lack of understanding about what happens if the country doesn’t manage its economy properly: the foodbanks will become very much longer.

Mr Hollinrake is an excellent servant for this area and our future is better because of his considerable efforts.

Bob Gardiner, Kirkbymoorside

WHY should MPs get a pay rise?

What about the cleaners, doctors, nurses and all the other working people – they should all get a lot of extra money in their pay rises.

They should also get paid a lot more money as well.

MPs do not deserve to get a pay rise.

They should certainly not get big pay rises, in fact, why should they get any at all?

Catherine Davey, Malton Bus cuts dismay I NOTE with dismay North Yorkshire county councillor Clare Wood’s response to proposed bus subsidy cuts.

To be “concerned about isolation” seems to be an inadequate response to the creeping loss of what I consider to be one of the vital services.

County councillor Clare Wood should vote against the plans.

In so many ways, public transport plays its part in maintaining a good economy and a healthy environment. It cuts overuse of the dreaded car, resulting in less carbon emissions and damage to roads.

In a rural area such as ours, good public transport allows workers to take jobs in larger towns, thus supporting the age mix in smaller towns and villages and also enables retirees who may not have, cannot afford or still be able to drive a car to maintain social contact and add to the economy with their spending power.

After all, what is the good of a bus pass without a reliable, efficient, regular bus service?

When local services like these begin to be eroded, I wonder if the excuse of “austerity” is merely a fig leaf for the planned shrinkage of government.

Eileen Randall, Pickering

Angry rider

AS a cyclist I was very angry to come upon yet another bodge job in Langton Road, Norton – men throwing a bit of tarmac into the holes. Very hit and miss, and the holes end up looking and behaving like mini speed bumps.

What a waste of our council tax: the road needs a complete resurface, it is used by school buses, tractors, racehorse boxes and is the gateway to the Wolds.

There is a line across the road between East and North Yorkshire, between Duggleby and Sledmere, and you can tell the difference.

Has Church Street now had its quota now the 10-minute wonder of Tour de Yorkshire is over?

F M Barry, Norton

Voting anomalies

MR LOXLEY’S further criticism of the Proportional Representation system [June 17] for elections still does not address the glaring weakness in the present system.

I hold no brief for UKIP, but how can it be fair that four million votes cast deliver a single MP in the House of Commons? Or in the case of the Greens, that two million votes also equals only one MP, when conversely the Scottish Nationalists can win 95 per cent of the seats in Scotland with 49 per cent of the vote?

The result is disillusionment of the electorate and increasing apathy and disengagement.

This trend is dangerous for the very existence of democracy, which relies on the principle that each vote does count. Already we see this trend happening. In the last general election, the highest proportion of voters were in the oldest age group and the lowest among the youngest age groups. I accept that no PR system is perfect, but a system such as AV+ is much fairer than the present and would help reinvigorate our ailing democracy. It is time for change.

Michael Gwilliam, Norton