Sir, – PJ Maloney (November 8th) is of course correct to suggest that the imposition of carbon taxes and other measures designed to reduce Ireland's environmental impact, suggested in a fit of ecological fervour by the Citizens' Assembly, will do little to halt global warming on a global scale.
Ireland is a small country sharing a planet with many larger ones whose decisions have greater potential to help or harm the environment.
However, this does not mean that taking steps to reduce emissions is futile. Irish citizens stand to benefit from decreased pollution, even within our own borders, and the amelioration of the quality of our air and water.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the view that it is pointless to act unless our action alone will be determinative of a global outcome is exactly the one that causes collective action problems in global politics, and adherence to such an attitude is precisely what makes international cooperation on numerous issues, environmental protection among them, so difficult. – Yours, etc,
CHRISTOPHER
McMAHON,
Castleknock,
Dublin 15.