Letter: Do we need all that oil, or do we only want to waste it?

From Mr Norman Myers

Sir: Among the discussions on the oil tanker wreck at Milford Haven, there has been no mention of a further ''spillover'' factor, if that is the right word. When the Exxon Valdez accident occurred in Alaska, clean-up costs amounted to $3bn. Because the clean-up operation was viewed as economic activity, the cost was added on to the US's GDP rather than subtracted. Can we in this country do better?

Yours faithfully,

Norman Myers

Oxford