You carried a piece noting that 'business leaders' have attacked heavy-handed environmental legislation. Infact environmental regulations are not hard enough.

Greens believe that the polluter should pay for the damage they cause. If they don't do that, then it's the taxpayer who has to pick up the tab. That doesn't offer real economic progress.

Companies can make a lot of money cutting corners, using bad practices that damage the environment and public health in the interest of short-term profits. Disproportionately small fines can currently be written off as run-of-the-mill operating costs.

Real benefits can be measured in terms of quality of life, development of people and care for the environment, as well as money in the bank. We need to see company executives held personally accountable for environmental damage. Rules need to be tightened not relaxed, with fines linked to turnover, to offer companies a real incentive for keeping within the current law; as well as within future, strengthened environmental statutes.

Carol Kambites, Gloucestershire Green Party