Baildon-based children's author Keith Rayner on the battle against global warming.

Once again Britain takes the lead in a worldwide struggle, this time against global warming. When there is trouble in the world, why is it that every other country in the world waits for Britain to take the lead?

This time will be no different to all the others. We will be left to fight on our own. Even the Americans refuse to join us on this one. The government, predictably, is taking us down the usual path. They are going to make the problem go away by increasing taxation. Why does that not surprise me?

Do they not realise that if everyone else does not follow our example, then the plan will not work? If we were to ban fuel burning of every kind throughout the land, unless the rest of the world follows, then we will fail. Reducing emissions on our own will not make any difference. We are told that the Government is going to get the rest of Europe to join with us in reducing emissions by up to 60 per cent.

Will the rest of Europe do what we ask? Can anyone imagine France doing anything that Britain suggests? Not a chance. Even if Europe did cut the amount of pollution that it emits by this large amount, the effect would be nullified by the increased output by other countries. America flatly refuses to even try to reduce the emissions it produces. China has the fastest-growing car population of anywhere in the world. What is the point of us cutting emissions when other countries are increasing theirs?

The government takes enough tax from the transport user already. Increasing the tax on fuel will only drive up prices, so everyone will pay, even those who have no transport. Nobody drives around with the sole intention of burning petrol. Commercial vehicles are a necessity. Private vehicles are used to make necessary journeys, or as a more convenient method of getting around.

If taxes are raised in this way, then every penny taken in taxes should be put back into ways of cutting emissions. Solar panels are a proven method of creating energy. They should be made compulsory (at government expense) on all supermarkets, shopping malls, warehouses, factories, office blocks, concert halls, exhibition centres, libraries - the list is endless.

Back in the middle ages, before the invention of even the steam engine, power was produced by water. Every village that had a stream or river near it, used the waterwheel to drive machinery. No emissions were produced. What a pity that we no longer have any streams or rivers in this country.

To be serious, these streams and rivers could still be used to turn wheels that could produce energy 24 hours a day. These ideas, of course, are not feasible today. Why? Because it would take working parties many years to calculate the savings and benefits of such systems. The cost of these working parties would also make the idea uneconomical.

We are told by meteorologists, biologists, geologists and archaeologists that the Earth has warmed up and cooled down before. Our own country was once a steaming jungle. We have also been in the grip of an ice age. The Earth warmed up following this.

Who was responsible for this previous global warming? Where were all the motor cars then? The Earth was unpopulated, but still we had global warming. This is something that this planet does. If all forms of pollution were stopped tomorrow, the Earth would still warm up if it wanted to. We have no control over the climate.