In response to Ray Fletcher’s letter (Letters, April 28): Far from being backward-looking, the Green Party is driven by the real imperatives of the near future. Our society is almost totally dependent on diminishing oil supplies which are becoming more and more expensive. This is already the source of huge problems – witness the conflict and suffering in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Energy conservation measures such as investing in more efficient and easier to usepublic transport are a part of reducing reliance on oil and are central to Green Party thinking.

Because of diminishing oil supplies we need to move fast towards securing supplies of clean, renewable energy. Other North Europeans have made large advances in home generation of renewable energies, and German corporations are investing billions in concentrated solar power plants in North Africa. Britain, meanwhile, is lagging behind.

Greens, far from looking back, also stand for progressive social change. The people of Brighton Pavilion have an historic opportunity to elect Caroline Lucas as the country’s first Green MP. She is an excellent, well known and proven candidate. This would be a victory which could reverberate through national politics with far-reaching consequences. It really would be a real vote for change.

Ewan Beck
Crescent Drive North, Brighton