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Letter From Prof. Tony Trewavas, Scientific Alliance Scotland (published here with Tony's permission).

This letter appeared in 'The Scotsman', 13 Dec 13.

Jenny Hogan's article ("Offshore sector needs fair wind", 10 December) is merely a plea to generate the most expensive electricity on the planet for which we all pay.

Energy of all kinds is the lifeblood of any economy. Deliberately increasing the price and thereby reducing consumption damages economic activity, growth, employment and competitiveness.

It increases the numbers who must choose between heat or eat and removes money from the more desirable programmes of education and health.

The UK needs cheap, reliable electricity, and wind energy is neither.

The apparent reason for this folly of an energy policy is revealed in the SNP's enormous document on independence. We apparently have put more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere through the industrial revolution. Therefore, the assumption goes, we must pay for it.

When I go around the world, I see the use of mobile phones, computers, radio, TV, city-wide electricity, clean water, piped gas, cars, planes, vaccines, anti- biotics, drugs, GPS, sterilisation, pasteurisation, petrol, the internet, modern medicine, surgery and agriculture, ships, tarmac roads, etc.

All of these invented and developed in the West, and much of it here. The rest of the world has benefited.

We used the industrial revolution wisely and we owe the world nothing in return. The damage this policy of expensive electricity does to our country will last for generations.

It does nothing for climate change since no-one else will bother.

Instead other countries streak ahead on education and invention because their energy is cheap.

We supposedly elect politicians to protect us first; it seems our present politicians are more concerned about others, than us who elected them.

(Prof) Tony Trewavas
Scientific Alliance Scotland,
North St David Street,
Edinburgh.

www.scotsman.com



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