i Deputy Editor's Letter: A topic that fuels conversations

By monitoring your emails and letters it’s fairly easy to tell which topics most inspire readers to get in touch. Not surprisingly, the events in Syria, or more specifically the debate surrounding the reasons for and against going to war, have dominated our inbox recently.

But if there’s one issue that’s guaranteed to draw a reaction, it’s the price of energy and climate change. Be it petrol and diesel, electricity or gas, everyone has an opinion – and it’s normally one that gets angry very quickly.

So now that the assertion from David Cameron – that the controversial extraction of shale gas will reduce the price of gas – has been described as “baseless economics” by Lord Stern, author of the Stern Review on the economics of climate change, consumers may be a little harder to placate. It seems that no matter what happens to the wholesale price of gas or oil, consumer prices are always increasing. But maybe this should provide a carrot for us to invest in more sustainable resources.

I’m all for things being cheaper (take this newspaper as a prime example!) and I’m fully aware of the squeeze among the poorer sections of our community, pensioners especially, that rising energy costs creates. But should we not use tax breaks and grants to help those most in need and begin to look to alternative, more sustainable sources of energy?

Once more it seems to be a case of putting off things until they become so urgent, we’re rushed into a last-minute decision. Or are we just waiting for the earth to get so hot, solar power starts to become more efficient? I’m braced for a barrage of letters and tweets…

i@independent.co.uk

Twitter.com: @jonesrhodri