Helena Echlin writes that sensible methods of climate activism didn’t work (Why I stopped arguing about the climate emergency and tried the silent treatment instead, 22 May), so she became a member of Red Rebel Brigade, a silent climate activist performance group, and now feels that she is doing something useful.
But how does she know if she is? Ryanair has just reported that it’s heading for a bumper year of selling cheap flights. Is dressing up in red having any effect on those air passengers? Of course not. Little if anything works in the face of corporate greed, government inaction and material desires that drive rampant consumerism. In the UK we have been cushioned from massive environmental disasters. Even when one happens, I seriously wonder if the penny will drop.
The realistic choices are to either join in the party before everything collapses or quietly live in line with one’s conscience in the knowledge that it will make no difference whatsoever.
Patrick Cosgrove
Bucknell, Shropshire
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