THE solution implicitly put forward by Caroline Strachan is that in order to reduce global warming we need to stop "driving around in our cars as much as we like" and succumb to the Luddite tendencies of the green movement (Letters, October 21).

I don't agree. Even if we were to abandon our cars and all the other benefits of 21st century technology it wouldn't do the world much good because the big developing economies such as China and India have made it quite clear that they have no intention of following suit.

Far better, then, to follow President Bush's example. His administration is heavily promoting research and development into hydrogen fuel cell technology, both in relation to vehicle engines and in trying to find ways of producing hydrogen which do not use vast amounts of electricity.

This won't produce an ideal solution overnight. But trying to find ways of maintaining a high standard of living while reducing its negative impact on the environment is a surely a more constructive approach than that of the self-righteous lefties who would probably like to see us all living in caves again.

In the meantime, I am doing my bit by having my car converted to run on LPG, thereby reducing its Co2 emissions by about 80 per cent.

One of the very few positive things this Government has done for the environment is to introduce a big tax break, equivalent to around a 40 per cent saving on petrol costs for most people, on this far cleaner fuel.

If a significant proportion of British motorists were willing to convert, it would be another real step on the road to sorting the global warming problem.

Leo Enticknap,

Ingram House

Bootham,

York.

Updated: 10:19 Monday, October 25, 2004