Re:  Article of 1 November 2002, "Scientists Say a Quest for Clean Energy Must Begin Now”

Dear Sir/Madam,

The quest for clean energy (and sustainable economic activity in general) should have begun in earnest 30 years ago, when the non-sustainability of our economic course and the lifestyles it engendered first entered public awareness, only to be played down, denied or ignored by the all too human blindness born of short-sighted self-interest.

Now, instead of being well on the way to a sustainable economy and lifestyles - which is the only alternative we have to extinction - we are heading inexorably towards catastrophe.

Because of the vast differences in scale, what took just seconds to become apparent when Apollo 13's life-support systems were damaged on its way to the Moon, is taking years aboard Spaceship Earth. but for those with eyes to see, the signs are clear enough.