Sir, – I have read with interest the recent letters about wealthy Irish people and climate change.
I live in the US and for hundreds of years we’ve been polluting the atmosphere. One of the many unfortunate decisions we made many years ago was to invest in private car and truck rather than public transportation.
Eight miles from Boston, where I live, the only convenient way of getting around is by car. If one works in Boston there’s an excellent train service to downtown. However most commuters drive to the train station rather than rely on an unpredictable bus service to get there. Many of our hundreds of towns in Massachusetts do not have a rail service to Boston and the ones that do have commuters driving to the station to park.
Though we are seeing a dramatic increase in the use of hybrid and fully electric cars, the overall percentage is small at about 2 per cent of all cars on the road.
The numbers sold is rising and this year is projected at 5 per cent for hybrids and 3 per cent for fully electric. The greatest deterrents seems to be price and the availability of charging stations.
Thankfully, the administration in Washington is committed to dramatically increasing the number of charging stations. With more electric and hybrid cars sold, their prices should come down helped by federal and state incentives to purchase them.
In the US the average daily commute is 30 miles (48km). The belief that drivers will be run out of charge is not valid for the vast majority. It is only on long journeys that drivers need to plan their stops for charging.
As in Ireland we could generate much electricity using wind and wave energy. We could also add to this significantly with solar energy generation.
I agree with the movement here to compensate developing countries that are dramatically affected by climate change. It is for the most part caused by first world countries and we ought to compensate them. – Yours, etc,
JOHN COTTER,
Melrose, MA,
United States.