With reference to the Skipper's article on hot air, I really do think our leaders should be forced to take a moderate IQ test before being permitted to hold office. Animals and their supposed global warming gasses are in fact a harmless part of the natural carbon cycle that has been in operation for millions of years. The problem is not the natural carbon cycle, but humans adding to it by taking fossil carbon from underground. We are adding surplus gas to the normal and natural cycle of gasses-grass-cows-gasses. We will not reduce global warming in any way other than by reducing the amount of fossil fuel we extract from underground.

On another matter, I also object to the way our council blames citizens for the amount of rubbish we "generate."

We do not generate rubbish, we buy it from supermarkets (in the form of packaging) and pass it on to the council in our bins. We also get it pushed through our letterboxes in the form of junk mail, some of which comes from the very council doing the complaining.

If supermarkets and junk mail senders were made responsible for the disposal of the rubbish they force on us, maybe some progress would be made in reducing it.

G Curtis (address supplied)