Shame on the fearmongers who cause harm for no reason

The gist of it was that as a direct consequence of climate change, bees were dying so there would be insufficient pollination of our food crops leading to mass starvation and the inevitable extinction of all life forms including humans. Armageddon would occur on August 29, 2032, at around a quarter past three.The science was certain.This means that if I am still around, I will miss Countdown.

It occurred to me that no one had told the bees, who seemed to be getting on with business as usual.

Research revealed that the issue was “colony collapse disorder”, which caused a blip in honey bee numbers in the mid-2000s but was always only a temporary phenomenon.

Globally honey bees are apparently doing well.

So just another example of a crisis that never was but which fitted the narrative demanding radical reorganisation of society to save the planet which, until recently, rested on the “precautionary principle” but has now evolved into talk simply of “climate crisis”. Adherents of the precautionary principle argued that a hypothesis of potentially civilisation-ending catastrophe merely needed to be plausible and have an end date to compel action as the world couldn’t afford to wait for scientific knowledge to catch up and verify the threat.The problem is that too much time passes without the events they were sure would befall us actually happening, undermining the original hypothesis.You can’t postpone Judgement Day indefinitely without losing credibility, so the green ideologists have upped the ante by deploying “catastrophe” language and assuring us that we are living in it now. More of a process than a series of events so easier to dial up the fear factor as required. As with all ideologies“Higher Truth” usurps scientific investigation.

Given the abysmal track record of the fearmongers in the prediction game (from toxic eggs to passive smoking, the Millennium bug, bird flu and the pandemic) society needs to confront the green ideology urgently. It is the greatest threat to our safety and prosperity.

In a world where apology is the universal panacea for everything from slavery to using the wrong pronoun I have seen no apologies from the fearmongers or scientists for the economic and social harm caused by following and acting upon their abysmal forecasting.

The trouble is that bad news sticks around like honey, whilst good news dries up like water.

Keith Swinley, Ayr.

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The NC500 has been a disaster for the Highlands

When will we Scots wake up to this energy folly?

Verging on the ridiculous

THANK you for printing my heartfelt letter (September 11) about the damaging North Coast 500. It was again a surprise to me to find in the same edition of the newspaper a large spread dedicated to the benefit NC500 is to the Great Yellow bumblebee ("How the NC500 could help save the Great Yellow bumblebee", The Herald, September 11).

The article confused me; I coudn't quite understand the link between Highland Titles, Highland Council, road verges and the bumblebee. I cannot see how encouraging a habitat along the route of these heavily-used diesel-infused environments could possibly help any creature so fragile. I am not a scientist, but I do find that that very bee thrives on my croft where there is long grass, many trees and flowers and a distinct lack of pollution. Perhaps NC500 Ltd is pushing an agenda which does not reflect reality?

Susan Black, Rhiconich, Sutherland.

Electricity: go for location pricing

A REPORT last year suggested that the electricity market should consider locational pricing as a fairer method which would reflect the cost of generating and providing cheaper electricity in areas where the production was cheapest.

So far nothing has happened to progress this and now we even have energy company CEOs stating openly that this would be a fairer system which would help areas of Scotland where heating and lighting costs are higher, but produce cheap electricity which is then sold to them at exorbitant cost.

Our MPs are silent and allow this injustice to persist to the detriment of everyone in Scotland and now we have another reason why they should be pushing for this as hard as they can.

A lot of large companies propose setting up electricity-intensive cloud storage systems which could be located in Scotland providing good jobs and income, especially in areas where secure good quality jobs are badly needed.

We have areas around Clackmannanshire which have lost a coal-fired generation station and Grangemouth is to close next year.

Motherwell lost thousands of skilled jobs when the electric arc furnaces at Ravenscraig, once the largest hot-strip steel mill in Western Europe, were shut in June 1992.

How different might it be with realistic regional pricing for electricity which would encourage companies which have high energy use to locate in Scotland to the benefit of areas badly in need of good quality secure jobs?

The excess heat from the cloud storage systems could also be utilised in district heating systems.

Iain McIntyre, Sauchie.

How can we get fairer energy bills? (Image: Getty)

Crossed lines

GABY McKay makes the comment that "you cannot have two train companies operating on the same line, for obvious reasons" ("Hiking up rail fares is bad politics from the government"), The Herald, September 12).

The line between Inverness and the central belt carries not only ScotRail, LNER and Caledonian Sleeper services, but Freightliner, the Tesco train and a further three or more freight companies’ trains.

Tesco may not own the tracks on which its trains run, but neither does it own the roads used by its lorries.

William Douglas, Balfron.