February JEC mag Letter of the Month? Anyone have a copy?

[blackflash]

Hi folks,

Though I have written a couple of letters to the magazine, I don't recall reading my own words recently... But a week or so ago I received a congratulatory letter and a £25 SNG Barratt voucher for apparently having my letter selected as February Letter of the Month!

I have discarded my copy of the magazine but would like to see who did author the letter of the month - if it was me, I will start to worry about my memory (and eyesight); if not, I will feel slightly guilty about the voucher but probably spend it anyway...

If anyone has a copy of the Feb mag and can confirm by replying to this post that Mr N C Bell was not the author then I'd be grateful. If on the other hand I was the author then I'd appreciate either an emailed or faxed copy so I can kick myself. Let me know either way, and i'll provide contact details if required.

Thanks.

Old Geezer

[ptjs1]

Nigel,

I can confirm that your letter was the Feb letter of the month. It was your response to the issue in teh May 2009 mag of whether the club should become involved in environmental policy. So, unless we have two Nigel Bell's in the club and they have inadvertently sent you the other Nigel Bell's just desserts, then you can bask in the glory!

If you give Graham Searle a ring at HQ then i'm sure he'll be happy to send you another copy of the Feb mag.

Regards,

Paul Sinnott

[blackflash]

Many thanks. I must have submitted that back in May/June last year - no wonder I had forgotten about it! I have tracked down an email to Nigel Thorley with the following contents which I assume is the letter in question:

With reference to the article titled “A Flawed Policy?” in the May magazine, I do think the magazine’s editorial policy should be tightened up… Specifically, to ensure that members are not able to express extreme views about one subject when purporting to write about something else! Paul Biggs’ “article” is itself a case in point.

As you quite rightly say in your response, “It is not the place of the Club to become embroiled in the rights and wrongs of legal or environmental matters”. An article about speed limits, speeding and 85th percentiles is not the place to bury (and have published! How could you!) extreme opinions which fly in the face not only of government policy (no harm in that) but of scientific debate and consensus. The magazine should surely not say its policy is to avoid being embroiled in such matters but then publish the opinions of someone at one extreme of a spectrum of opinion – or should at least ensure that the right of reply is given to those who would fundamentally disagree.

CO2 is indeed an essential, naturally occurring, aerial plant food gas, and harmless in naturally occurring quantities. But the industrial world is not “naturally occurring” and its carbon emissions at such unnatural levels are far from harmless. To ignore scientific consensus, to use phrases like “unjustified demonization… of CO2” and “carbon-climate-claptrap” and to claim that concern and action about CO2 levels are “anti-car/anti-driver” would be laughable if these were not such important issues. As an XJR owner who more than occasionally enjoys its performance to the full, I am certainly no apologist for the environmental “lobby”, but I do recognise that I am part of a wider world facing big challenges both now and for future generations.

I enjoy my JEC membership and the magazine immensely, and applaud the balanced perspective you have so far managed to maintain, particularly in focusing on the benefits to owners and the wider environment on which we depend of efficient maintenance and driving. Please do not tarnish the esteem in which the club and magazine are held by giving voice to baseless assertions and rants, whether explicit or buried in the letters page or extensions thereof.

With sincere best wishes for the continued success of the Club and Magazine,

I will spend my voucher with a clear conscience!