RYA Spring Magazine - 'Star Letter'

webcraft

webcraft

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Anyone else read this, from an 'Ian Miller' ?

It's the sort of hysterical climate change denying turbophobic fossil fuel lobbying nonsense I would expect to read in the letters pages of the Mail or the Telegraph, not in the members' magazine of an organisation that likes to boast of its 'Green Blue' environmental credentials.

What on earth were they thinking of?

- W
 
I did have a laugh at it. I am tempted to reply, but might risk my engineering institute membership if I did! Quite sure he won't be alive when the planet runs out of fossil fuels and mankind is not "up to speed" on energy harnessing for a global population three times the size it is now. ;)
 
webcraft said:
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Anyone else read this, from an 'Ian Miller' ?

It's the sort of hysterical climate change denying turbophobic fossil fuel lobbying nonsense I would expect to read in the letters pages of the Mail or the Telegraph, not in the members' magazine of an organisation that likes to boast of its 'Green Blue' environmental credentials.

What on earth were they thinking of?

- W
Click to expand...

I haven't seen the letter Webby, but wouldn't that be "turbophilic" i.e. turbo-loving? :confused:

Richard
 
I read it and thought thank goodness one is allowed to put an alternative point of view, whether correct or not, unlike the BBC and many other media outlets where any questioning of the headlong rush to accept 'climate change' as something to be worried about is seen as reactionary.
Climate change as such has always been ongoing, why do people think they can stop it now?
 
Whiskey Bravo said:
I read it and thought thank goodness one is allowed to put an alternative point of view, whether correct or not, unlike the BBC and many other media outlets where any questioning of the headlong rush to accept 'climate change' as something to be worried about is seen as reactionary.
Climate change as such has always been ongoing, why do people think they can stop it now?
Click to expand...

What was it doing in the RYA magazine though? No boating relevance I could see. Has their letters page turned into some printed version of the Lounge?



- W
 
Skysail said:
"turbophobic" is correct. It was VERY anti windfarm, so sort of boaty!
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It wasn't just anti-windfarm, that was only a relatively small part of it. It was generally anti-green', anti-'environmentalists' and pro increased fossil fuel exploitation including shale gas exploitation and Arctic drilling.

Whatever your personal views it was wholly inappropriate for publication in the members' magazine of an organisation that is forever flaunting its 'Green Blue' environmental credentials, particularly as the 'Star Letter'. The fact that some of my membership fee has gone towards buying a 'stylish waterproof jacket from Musto RRP £120' for Mr Miller makes it even less appropriate

I hope any members who feel the same way will let the RYA know.

e-mail: the.editor@rya.org.uk

Mail:
The Editor,
RYA Magazine,
RYA House
Ensign Way,
Southampton
SO31 4YA

- W
 
webcraft said:
What was it doing in the RYA magazine though? No boating relevance I could see. Has their letters page turned into some printed version of the Lounge?

- W
Click to expand...

Well if its as biased as you say they might just be desperate to readership cause debate etc etc.

As you clearly demon straight on this subject there are people with very polarized views on such subjects often well versed in there view point. Next issue will have a handful of readers letters saying its bo**cks, from people equaly well versed in there view. Then the rest of us will pull up a chair some where in between, a little better educated.

Its called freedom of speech? Seems for once it was not the greenys who got the head start :o
 
webcraft said:
e-mail: the.editor@rya.org.uk

Mail:
The Editor,
RYA Magazine,
RYA House
Ensign Way,
Southampton
SO31 4YA

- W
Click to expand...


Thanks for that.

I have been getting P**sed off with the amount of cruft offering leaflets inserted, never mind the total lack of relevant content, I will be emailing the editor to say don't bother sending me magazines anymore as they go in the bin within a very short time of receiving them.
 
onesea said:
Well if its as biased as you say they might just be desperate to readership cause debate etc etc.

As you clearly demon straight on this subject there are people with very polarized views on such subjects often well versed in there view point. Next issue will have a handful of readers letters saying its bo**cks, from people equaly well versed in there view. Then the rest of us will pull up a chair some where in between, a little better educated.

Its called freedom of speech? Seems for once it was not the greenys who got the head start :o
Click to expand...

It's a boating mag produced by a boating organisation - and one that that professes to have strong environmental views as well. I expect the letters page to be vaguely relevant. There are plenty of other places for people who want to attack environmentalists to post.

I don't usually comment on spelling mistakes, but 'demon straight' is an interesting one.

- W
 
webcraft said:
It's a boating mag produced by a boating organisation - and one that that professes to have strong environmental views as well. I expect the letters page to be vaguely relevant. There are plenty of other places for people who want to attack environmentalists to post.

I don't usually comment on spelling mistakes, but 'demon straight' is an interesting one.

- W
Click to expand...

IMHO articles as extreme as the way you quote it normally do not help there own cause, so I would not worry about it to much. Sounds like it was stuck in as anti-wind farm?

For the record that spelling mistake was not intentional, although it could have humor value next time ;)
 
webcraft said:
It's a boating mag produced by a boating organisation - and one that that professes to have strong environmental views as well. I expect the letters page to be vaguely relevant. There are plenty of other places for people who want to attack environmentalists to post.

I don't usually comment on spelling mistakes, but 'demon straight' is an interesting one.

- W
Click to expand...

We put the letter in as part of the ongoing debate within the RYA and its membership about the provision of renewable energy and the proliferation of offshore windfarms. Letters in RYA Magazine do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the RYA or of the staff of the magazine. Indeed, it is a forum for RYA members to express their opinions, especially if they are contrary to the received wisdom of RYA House.

The letter links itself to boating in three specific places: '...encircling our shore with industrial-scaler turbines...', ...an immediate brake on offshore and onshore wind turbines', and '...subsidising offshore wind farms - at a time of national debt austerity management'.

Windfarms and, by extension, renewable energy and, therefore, the whole climate change debate is very relevant to yachtsmen. The magazine has published letters expressing views at both extremes of the climate change spectrum.
 
jamesjermain said:
We put the letter in as part of the ongoing debate within the RYA and its membership about the provision of renewable energy and the proliferation of offshore windfarms. Letters in RYA Magazine do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the RYA or of the staff of the magazine. Indeed, it is a forum for RYA members to express their opinions, especially if they are contrary to the received wisdom of RYA House.

The letter links itself to boating in three specific places: '...encircling our shore with industrial-scaler turbines...', ...an immediate brake on offshore and onshore wind turbines', and '...subsidising offshore wind farms - at a time of national debt austerity management'.

Windfarms and, by extension, renewable energy and, therefore, the whole climate change debate is very relevant to yachtsmen. The magazine has published letters expressing views at both extremes of the climate change spectrum.
Click to expand...
Oh come on James, you don't seriously expect us to swallow that? Of course energy policy is relevant to yachtsmen but to claim that this letter addressed that relevance by referring in three places, obliquely, to offshore wind turbines is just absurd. The letter starts with a contentious and ill informed claim; there are no 'scientifically established facts', only current inderstandings and theoretical models that have so far stood up to all attemopts to disprove them, for that is how science works. It is established that the vast majority of real scientists with an understanding of the complexities of climate science agree that the world is heating up and man made CO2 emisions are the major cause. He is making an argument FOR hydrocarbon based energy, not an argument about recreational sailing in any sense. That's why it's a poor editorial decision to publish it and to reward its publication.
 
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jamesjermain said:
The magazine has published letters expressing views at both extremes of the climate change spectrum.
Click to expand...

Oh yes, the old 'balance' chestnut. I wasn't aware that there were two 'extreme' ends. Who exactly does the RYA put at the other 'extreme' ? Perhaps the people who actually do the research . . .

And what's this 'we' ? I understood that Deborah Cornick was the editor of the magazine. Does a committee select the letters to be published, or does she have editorial freedom?


- W
 
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