Environmental warnings should stop drivers taking the road to ruin | Letters
Following the UN's report concluding carbon emissions need to be reduced massively and rapidly to prevent an average increase in global temperatures of more than 1.5C (Global warming must not exceed 1.5C, landmark UN report warns, 8 October), one quick and simple way in which the UK could make a start is by cutting the top speed vehicles can travel on motorways from 70 to 60mph. All cars operate most efficiently at a speed between 50 and 60mph. At the stroke of a pen we could ensure all vehicles on motorways are running far closer to their most efficient levels. It won't save the world on its own, but it's a cost-free and easy step to take that gets us moving in the right direction.
Matt Wheeler
Bushey, Hertforshire
" It is increasingly evident how difficult it will be to stop global warming; the need is pressing, obvious and requires strong leadership from governments. But, incredibly, our government is planning to build a major road (the so-called expressway) between Oxford and Cambridge. Painful as it might appear, the time has come when we have to stop building new major roads altogether, anywhere. We have to slash use of roads and fossil fuels, not encourage them.
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