MY home, like most in Scotland, is heated (efficiently) by a gas boiler but it was built in an era when insulation was not given today’s importance. Our piecemeal attempts to tackle energy efficiency have resulted in only limited improvement.
A radical, disruptive and costly retrofitting is required to achieve insulation levels possible with new builds. There are very many homes across Scotland in the same category as ours.
The burning of fossil fuels is causing global warming, so gas boilers will be phased out. This I support, as most people polled do. However, when the costs and limitations are understood, the same polling indicates a minority support for conversion to alternatives.
This dislocation is what Rishi Sunak is trying to exploit for his own gain. If anyone is faced with a choice of keeping their family warm tonight or worrying about the future effects of climate change, there will only be one winner. What is required by those of us, including myself, concerned about climate change is for credible alternatives to be adopted by our Scottish Government.
Maybe the by-election to replace Boris Johnson would not have been won by the Tories if individual testing of older vehicles or adequate affordable public transport had been in place.
In terms of replacing gas boilers, a credible affordable alternative must be presented. Air source heat pumps require a very large surface to output their heat. Underfloor heating with lots of tubing is required to heat a home given the 30-40C water air pumps are limited to producing in winter. Existing radiators are far too small and are inadequate.
The Green Party, in trying to drive change, are talking about taxing users of gas boilers – at a time when the price of electricity is artificially inflated to match the price of gas. Homeowners or landlords who understand the cost and disruption implications of the required insulation and conversion of their gas boilers to air pumps, albeit with grants part-financing the change, will understandably revolt.
The opportunity for voters to follow dangerous, populist policies like Sunak’s will only be enhanced.
There is a solution. The Green New Deal from Common Weal offers a costed, radical and credible alternative as championed by National columnists Lesley Riddoch and Joanna Cherry MP.
It involves the national control of our energy supply and distribution, the retrofitting of our homes, district heating for many of our homes and reduced energy bills for consumers.
If our Scottish Government does not have the power or finance to deliver such a scheme under devolution, then what better policy to campaign under for support for independence and to move the dial from 50% to 60%?
Campbell Anderson
Edinburgh
TONY Kime (Letters, Sep 23) asks us to accept that the Scottish Greens have had a “good influence” on SNP policies. Opinion polls, by-election results and plain common sense would all suggest the complete opposite is the case.
The green tail has been in serious danger of dragging the SNP dog down and out of government for a long time.
As is usual with Green Party supporters, he makes the rather arrogant suggestion that anyone questioning their logic – Fergus Ewing MSP in this case – does “not have any interest in the future of our youngsters”.
I rather suspect that Mr Kime has probably not devoted his life to the cause of independence and our children’s future half as much as Fergus Ewing and his family have.
No-one, including Fergus Ewing, is suggesting we ignore climate change. It is now upon us and will only get worse but the likes of the governments of China, India and the US should be the target of Mr Kime’s apparent anger.
The question of how we in Scotland can afford to heat our homes without gas, which the Green Party seeks to outlaw in a short time, has been raised a number of times both in the Scottish Parliament and even in The National’s letters pages.
No answers have been forthcoming. Stopping the exploitation of our own oil and gas will simply lead to imports of more expensive foreign oil and gas – unless of course the children
Mr Kime is apparently so concerned about are to suffer the cold of many a Scottish winter.
The less said about the Green Party minister who led the recent disastrous recycling scheme the better. The almost £100 million costs will have to be met by the Scottish taxpayer. It will not be recycled but is lost forever.
Dr Iain Evans
Edinburgh
HOW wonderful to watch European women retain the Solheim Cup. How proud I am to be a European.
How I wish we were closer politically and economically. We were, I was, no longer am, and fervently wish to be again.
Jim Taylor
Edinburgh
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here