Planet Earth is dying; rather it is being murdered. The insanity of the capitalist system and the apathy of its victims ensure that little but the poisoned residue of these new dark ages will be bequeathed to our grandchildren.

Two billion years worth of the sun’s stored energy has been, or is being, released in the space of a few hundred years, wasted by a system that produces always for private profit. To compound this insanity a gullible public has been sold the idea that we need to “frack” for shale gas.

Is it possible that the fact of solar power has been completely overlooked? The desert areas of this planet, covered in solar panels, could produce more energy than is currently consumed worldwide.

A solar-powered plane recently flew across the US. New houses rendered weather proof by interlocking solar panels produce more energy than they consume.

If the gas that remains in the Earth, after all the years of wastage, is of such potential value then why can’t we leave it for future generations? Let them decide whether the dying planet or their own grandchildren need that little bit of extra pollution.

Roger Westmoreland, The Oval, Pocklington.