Peter Poole accuses the Green Party of “foisting a narrow view” of climate change on the citizens of Brighton and Hove (Letters, December 11), and argues that “the CO2 scam is a rotten philosophy on which to base its vote”.

I’d like to correct him on both issues. First, we are not “basing our vote” on climate change.

To the contrary, we are appealing to people on the basis of a wide range of policies, chief among them jobs and public services.

We are supporting the unions in their fight back against a string of redundancies in the city, for example, as well as the staff facing job cuts at the University of Sussex.

The Greens are alone among the political parties in arguing we should not be making spending cuts now in public services.

We’re in good company, with our position supported by Danny Blanchflower, the only member of the Monetary Policy Committee who rightly predicted the extent of the economic crisis.

Second, the Greens’ response to climate change is to promote a million new jobs through a major investment in energy efficiency and renewables. In Kirklees, Yorkshire, Green councillors were responsible for a project which gave free insulation to 40,000 homes, saving each family, on average, £150 a year on fuel bills, cutting emissions and creating more than 100 jobs.

Far from “foisting” ideas on people, Greens work with them to make greener options cheaper and easier.

It is this fresh approach, based on independent thinking, which is attracting record numbers of people to say they will vote Green, as opinion polls and bookmakers’ odds are increasingly testifying.

Caroline Lucas MEP
Green Party parliamentary candidate, Brighton Pavilion
Marlborough Street, Brighton