Laurence Kenney (Letters, 1 March) points the finger at “engineers and scientists” for enabling both the climate emergency and armed conflicts across the globe. This is an unhelpful framing of the issue.
Science and technology are tools that can be used for both good and bad ends. How we choose to use them is a matter for all of society, not just for scientists. Let’s remember that it was climate science that revealed to us (nearly 40 years ago) that our desire for plentiful energy and transportation based on fossil fuels would lead to catastrophe. And that it is low-carbon technologies that now offer us a pathway out of our climate predicament.
More recently, it was biomedical science and technology that rendered Covid-19 less lethal for most of us, and allowed us to re-engage with friends and family.
It is true that some scientists and engineers work for fossil fuel corporations and the military-industrial complex, but this accusation can also be levelled at lawyers, accountants and so on. We all need to consider the ends to which our time and our talents are used.
Rob Driver
Hexham, Northumberland
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