PROTESTORS against the much-needed coal mine in Cumbria protesters fail to understand the situation regarding the need for this coal.

It is destined for steel production as at present the necessary coal is imported at great expense from other parts of the world so that our taxpayers are providing jobs to foreigners instead of British workers, (the 500 jobs for locals are sorely needed). The coal is transported by sea at extra cost to the industry and this also adds to the pollution.

We will always need steel. It’s a no-brainer that we need to mine it ourselves.

These "greens" who also say we must keep oil in the ground have a very narrow-minded view of the situation. If oil is kept in the ground, where does the lubricant for all our essential machinery come from? Don’t say palm oil as we all know what that is doing to the rainforests of Brazil.

I’m sure we have all seen pictures of the XR activists digging up turf outside the Home Office last week! What does grass do - soaks up CO2 and gives out oxygen.

Greta Thunberg says society should go back to pre-industrial revolution! So she proposes we all go back to horses and carts and burn wood? I want to see her come up against someone who really does know the science.

She says 10 years 252 days and 10 hours away from now we will be in a position where we set off an irreversible chain reaction beyond human control, that will most likely lead to the end of our civilisation [speech given to Houses of Parliament in 2019].

How can she be so precise? If it hasn’t happened in 11 years will she profusely apologise? I won’t hold my breath. Global warming is due to cyclical variations of the Earth's elliptical orbit. It has always been so. No amount of useless electric vehicles will change that.

R Quirk

Ulverston