Sir, - The abandonment of the Kyoto Agreement by the US does not come as a surprise to us. George W. Bush, as we suspected, represents the interests of the fossil fuel lobby in the US. His presidency is likely to delay the solving of the most important environmental problem and this is a threat to people all over the world.
We call on the Irish Government and the EU to redouble their efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and to convince the Americans that this is in their interest also.
Europe now has a chance to get an early lead in energy-efficient and clean technologies. These environmentally friendly technologies will replace the older polluting industries over the next few decades. If the US continues to oppose these changes, it will find itself an economically poorer state and also regarded as a pariah. - Yours, etc.,
Nick Armstrong, Chairman, Earthwatch/Friends of the Earth Ireland, Upper Camden Street, Dublin, 2.
Sir, - President Bush is showing his true colours and they're not green. To ensure Americans can continue to cause more pollution per head of population than any other country, he has set America on a course of action that will have more lasting global repercussions than anything Iraq got up to - proof, if it were needed, that America's only real priority is America and to hell with the rest of the world.
Changes he has made to bankruptcy laws and objections to Internet privacy laws go further to show that he's keeping campaign promises - to the utility, motor and banking industries, at least.
As America's 51st and newest state, we should make it known that we don't particularly wish to share the climate of the 49th entrant to the union, Alaska. - Yours, etc.,
Garry Clarke, Spricklestown, The Ward, Co Dublin.