30th January 2010

Gloucester Greens' Bryan Meloy responds to Martin Kirby's latest Citizen column nonsense. (See also Matthew Sidford's recent letters listed above)

Where's the humility?
Martin Kirby again wastes valuable column inches to insult 'members of the Green lobby' and claims we are anti car. This is difficult to fathom as most Greens I know own and drive cars. They do however choose sensibly what to drive and when to drive it, and when it is better to walk, cycle or use public transport - plain common sense for health and fitness benefits as well as to cut fuel costs and pollution. It is true that we argue against waste, whether this is excessive supermarket packaging, or of fuel in Martin Kirby' lauded 4x4's. We have all but used up our North Sea oil and gas and invested the profits so poorly that viable alternatives have not been developed (either in research or production) to the levels they could have been. We are now buying increasing amounts of fuel from Russia, Libya and beyond, prices are going up and our economy will suffer greatly for this lack of foresight.
Nations around the world have invested billions in climate research there are scientists making measurements in Antarctica and the Arctic, there are satellites in space and the science is showing major changes corresponding with human industrial activity which are beyond any changes seen in all of the millennia prior to this. I have the humility to believe research data and heed the warnings that this foretells. I do not sit in my armchair and arrogantly assume I know better without even having looked at the evidence. I do not put my own self interest before that of everyone else, I joined the Green lobby to try and make a positive difference. I give my time freely and invest my limited finances for others futures as do my fellow Greens and we deserve better press for our efforts than the trite insults bandied in the Citizen. We will certainly not shut up as Martin Kirby suggests.

Bryan Meloy 30/01/2010

Gloucester Green Party