“Don’t Just Sit There – Do Something”

I thought your recent editorial covering Sheffield XR and the climate change debate in general was excellent.

But I must write a note of optimism that all is certainly not lost if we are prepared to grasp the nettle then the outcomes for our generation, our children’s generation and those generations as yet only a twinkle in their parents eyes could be very positive.

My generation (baby boomer), was the poisoned generation, how little did we know.

Hormone treated beef (I am a meat eater), most livestock overdosed with antibiotics to the point that the medicines hardly work on us now, pesticide spraying to the point that they may have not only poisoned every insect on the planet but us probably as well, dreadful particulate air pollution from private and more importantly commercial diesel buses and lorries, car manufacturers that happily con our regulators and then complain loudly about that regulation, rivers that still contain raw sewage when the floods hit (how many times?), coal-fired power stations that carried on belching smoke and the powers that be, proudly and loudly denouncing the ineffectual useless green energy that is finally replacing these monstrosities.

What next, oh yes! Fracking, more poison.

It becomes increasingly obvious that the green movement is treading on some pretty important toes.

Still governments refuse to invest in larger green capital projects like the Bristol Channel tidal power project which would offer massive green energy returns but is a large project which must be built over a long period and requires significant investment from government and those private banking investors that are still financing coal mines and oil pipe lines.

I hope, looking to the future, we can improve things on a local level for Sheffield, our city now wrested from the industrial revolution, steel and coal mining.

Our city which was built on the backs of our grandparents and great grandparents.

Now hopefully we as a city are finally destined to be a green city for generations to come.

So please all you Sheffield people ‘Don’t Just Sit There – Do Something’