Tackling climate change is about securing the future for both people and planet - Yorkshire Post Letters

GP Taylor’s opinion piece (The Yorkshire Post, July 26) was bizarre. For starters, he claims that “woke, eco-warriors” have taken over the Tory Party. Really?

That’s not the impression that Sunak and his cabinet are giving and, if he understands the meaning of woke, he should know that to use it in a derogatory way reflects badly on the user.

He then writes that he has done research and discovered that the very high temperatures occurring in parts of Europe have been exaggerated by up to10 degrees on unspecified TV channels. Which ones?

One can “prove” or “disprove” anything if one rummages around on Google long enough - I’m surprised that The YP let this wild assertion into print without at least the naming of a source.

And I suspect those trying to survive in excessive heat would be even more surprised to learn that the (for example) 48 degrees they were enduring wasn’t really that high at all.

As for saying that it’s wrong to put the planet before people, Taylor appears to have forgotten that if the planet goes, so go the rest of us - except, perhaps, the mega-rich.

He also seems to be putting his faith into the claims of a physicist whose name he can’t even get right (it’s Clauser, not Clause).

Personally, I would set more store by Nasa, who say that the "vast majority of actively published climate scientists” believe global warming is caused by humans.

Taylor also states that Angela Rayner “let slip that every road user will face a £12.50 a day charge”. That is a blatant untruth.

He is referring to Ulez - originally introduced by Boris Johnson - which affects only the worst polluters on our roads, and even then there are exemptions (including agricultural vehicles).

It is scare-mongering tactics to claim it will affect all drivers, because it won’t. Ulez was brought in to reduce air pollution, and thus benefit the health of people, particularly children - how can that be bad?

I find it hard to believe that anyone is in doubt about the perilous state of our climate, whether caused by humans or not.

But whichever camp one is in, it makes sense to do all we can to save energy, limit pollution, and secure future energy needs by investing more in renewables, and becoming less dependent on finite resources.

Taylor does acknowledge that the climate is changing, so surely it is logical to look for ways to adapt to those changes.

Whether or not we have children or grandchildren, responsible citizens should be supportive of efforts being made to protect the wellbeing, and survival, of future generations: planet and people.