Letter: Not as green as we seem

Sir: Amidst his frustration at the desperate delay tactics of the Clinton administration, Tony Blair might want to reflect on why the climate negotiations have become so vulnerable to disruption ("Blair gets serious on climate summit", 24 June). One of the main reasons is that none of the world leaders is prepared to speak the truth by its real name - fossil fuels.

Science tells us we destroy our climate if we burn oil, coal and gas. By refusing to discuss the implications of climate protection on fossil fuel consumption, politicians leave themselves vulnerable to a dirty tricks campaign orchestrated by the very sector who sit at the heart of the problem - the oil and coal lobby. It is this lobby which has taken out full-page adverts in the US press and effectively blocked a more progressive position by Mr Clinton.

Mr Blair's international green leadership is fragile if he permits massive expansion of the fossil fuel supply in the Atlantic. If he stops the Wild West brawl for new fossil fuel reserves at the Atlantic frontier he would be able to demonstrate to the US that industrial development does not have to be eternally linked to the expansion of the supply of cheap oil.

MATTHEW SPENCER

Climate Campaigner

Greenpeace UK

London N1