AT LEAST three letters in your paper on November 7 highlighted issues concerned with climate change.

Elizabeth Pursell (‘So much for doing our bit’) describes how she has been forced to drive more because of the closure of local services and cuts in bus routes. If the Government was serious about tackling climate change, it would invest in frequent, cheap public transport and local public services that reduce the need to travel.

John Graham (‘Plug-in points seldom used’) objects to the cost of identifying electric vehicle charging sites across South Lakeland on the grounds the charging points at County Hall in Kendal are rarely used. If we are to address climate change seriously, and to reduce air pollution, we have to stop driving vehicles powered by fossil fuels.

One of the main things that puts people off switching to electric vehicles is the lack of charging points. It is great there are some charging points at County Hall, but there are not enough across the rest of South Lakeland, or the rest of the country, to give people confidence there will always be one available when they need it. In a few years’ time, when petrol and diesel vehicles are phased out, we will be glad we looked ahead and invested in charging points.

Extinction Rebellion protests have brought the climate emergency to everyone’s attention, and there are signs the political parties are beginning to understand it should be at the top of the Government’s agenda. Peter Holme (Letters, November 7, ‘Carbon cost’) criticises the protestors because they travelled to London and thus generated carbon emissions, and he asks if this increase in pollution was worth it.

In an ideal world, the Government would be listening to the scientists and acting urgently to combat climate change, and it would not be necessary for people to rise up to force them to act. Unfortunately, successive governments have not acted and we are now faced with an emergency. The emissions generated by the protestors are tiny compared to the reduction in emissions we must make.

Incidentally, Mr Holme states that a protestor’s trip to London cost 3.1 tons of CO2. According to the Energy Saving Trust, travel by train emits 0.046 kg of CO2 per passenger kilometre, or about 37kg per passenger for the round trip from Kendal to London. A car emits about 145kg for the same journey. Bad enough, but nothing like 3 tons! And these figures will come down dramatically when transport is powered by electricity from renewable sources.

Steve Lenartowicz

Ambleside