And that is why school children everywhere are taking to the streets - it is the future of the planet and, critically, their future, they are concerned about. Their critics, however, seem more agitated about missed school time than about the impact of climate change.

These youngsters are clearly smart enough to be able to survive a couple of hours away from school and it might just give pause to their elders as to the justification for their concern.

As a grandfather, I applaud them.

A number of statements have been made saying or implying that global warming will cause an overall increase in deaths because of an increase in heat-related deaths. But data do not support this contention. In fact, the opposite applies. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports that the death rate peaks in winter (August), and troughs in summer (February). There are consistent trends between the winter peak and the summer trough. The difference can be over 30 per cent. Thus the warmer the temperature the lower the death rate.

Attention the Hon Mr Rattenbury.

That's great, turn off the gas, throw out wood-burning stoves to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere to slow climate warming. Yes I agree it is a good plan - plan A.

But please Mr Rattenbury plan for a Plan B. Under plan A greedy electricity companies are free to charge whatever they like - we have no alternative but to pay what they demand if we want to cook or heat/cool our homes.

Plan B. The ACT government become an electricity generating company and sell power to customers at a marginal profit without blackouts, a win-win for government and the people. Only then will I embrace Plan A.

While the intention to move towards 100 per cent renewables to power households in Canberra is admirable, the reality is we are connected to the National Electricity Market, which is around 23 per cent renewable. This remains necessary for when intermittents fail to supply Canberra's power needs. Like many Canberrans, I am not against the move towards 100 per cent renewables to power households but I am concerned Canberrans may be asked to pay more out of their own pockets. Just like our increasing rates bill, those who are financially comfortable can absorb any additional costs the ACT Government may propose residents pay, but those who are more vulnerable cannot.

The ACT government has a strong plan to reduce our carbon emissions to zero by 2045, and recognises that transport is a huge part of the problem here.

I run a very old petrol-driven car which I would dearly love to trade in for an electric one, but will never be in a position to do so - and I suspect there are many like me around.

My dream of having an electric bike instead drew a sharp breath from my son, who reminded me that at my age we don't bounce when we hit the ground, so it will probably remain a pipe dream.

Rather than requiring the citizens of this territory to buy electric cars, perhaps a better solution would be to focus on providing a more inclusive public transport system.

Not a couple of light rail lines, but a multitude of electric buses, with flexible routes, meeting the needs of individuals by coordinating demands through a computer network.

I recall that in the 70s or 80s there was such a system in San Francisco - the Bay Area Transport system (BAT). Maybe its time was not right then. I think that now might be the time to try it again.

I do know that when my car finally gives up the ghost, our present system, which in the fifteen years I have lived here has seen the local bus service diminish markedly, will not be up to allowing me to continue with all the activities I can currently engage in.

It's not a pretty prospect.

While one could perhaps applaud the ACT government's foresight on climate change, one must be equally appalled at the lack of priority being given to the real issues affecting Canberra and the ACT.

Issues such as health, homelessness, transport and the general maintenance of roads, parks and the city generally.

As the Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Port Moresby Hospital succinctly put it recently in regard to the poor state of health facilities in Papua New Guinea, "Can the government please stop building prestige (look at me) projects, and put the resources into the ordinary care facilities that ordinary people need every day". It really is time for this government to put in the hard yards on priority issues or move on.

I wish to help the Prime Minister, who reportedly said, "I am really puzzled at the level of opposition to the government trying to tackle the problem of drug addiction for people who are not in work". I would say that cutting funds to services designed to rehabilitate people with drug problems is counter-productive to his aims.

Ian Pilsner is spot on when he says "Australia wouldn't be the great country it is today without the arrival of our first boat people" (Letters, September 18).

Of course, the first boat people arrived in Australia about 70,000 years ago.

Our history started then, with that first fleet, not just with the arrival of the second fleet, of convicts and their guards in 1788, as Ian suggests.

Our continent has been populated by people coming in "fleets" of vessels, as it has never been possible to walk here on dry land. It's only in the last 50 years that new arrivals have come in "fleets" of aircraft rather than ships. Let's not overemphasise the fleet of 1788 when the fleets of 70,000 years ago and of the 19th and 20th centuries are of just as much significance in making Australia a great country.

Instead of letting Project Wing fly their exceedingly noisy aircraft over peaceful Canberra suburbs, why doesn't the federal government ground their operations until Wing produce a drone that is measured at the 45 decibels permitted in Canberra residential areas?

As a person who lived through the horrendous Bonython drone trial, there is no way the rights of people, pets and animals to live in peace in their homes and natural environment should be sacrificed just so that a private company can develop and sell their product.

Prescription medicine cannot be delivered by drones, and elderly people need human contact, not drone food deliveries to their front driveways.

No amount of PR spin by Wing will erase the true reality of how wrong noisy drone delivery is for our suburbs. What we lose far outweighs any supposed benefits.

Scott Morrison playing the racism card, in response to questions about the alleged behaviour of Gladys Liu, is reminiscent of Tony Abbott playing the sexism card in response to questions about the alleged behaviour of Peta Credlin. In terms of our senior elected representatives properly addressing questions that are raised, it seems we haven't come very far during the intervening period.

The picture taken in the new Molonglo valley suburb of Whitlam accompanying Tim Field's letter about urban tree cover (Letters, September 18) illustrates the damage done by what I see, wearing my geologist's hat, as poorly controlled land development.

Not only is all vegetation including trees removed, all the topsoil and subsoil is also removed, exposing a clay-rich layer and/or deeply weathered rock, both of which in the Canberra area are infertile and commonly poorly drained. I see no evidence of the removed soil being stockpiled, as it should be, for redistribution over the area once the construction of houses and other buildings is complete.

Restoring the ravaged land to something like its former state, with all its microbial and other organic matter, is a difficult and drawn-out task. In the meantime, Mr Field's trees, and any other plantings, will struggle to survive, let alone thrive.

In your editorial (Monday 16 September), you state that NAPLAN needs to be revisited and the process reviewed. I was a Principal in four different high socio-economic schools in Canberra, overseeing NAPLAN testing during my tenure. NAPLAN testing is a complete waste of time. We analysed our results, coming close to top in most league tables and doing extremely well compared to national statistics. Wow, aren't we great we thought. Absolute garbage we all knew.

A pointless testing period, wasting time and causing considerable angst on the part of many families. National testing is totally pointless and everyone in education knows this. I challenge any principal in the ACT to refute my opinions. The silence will be deafening.

Steve Evans' article on cycling "Can Canberra be like Copenhagen?" (The Canberra Times, September 18, Page 20) omitted to mention that in Copenhagen "helmet hair" is optional. Voluntary helmet use is also an essential feature of successful bike sharing schemes.

The simplest thing Barr and Rattenbury could do to reduce my car use would be roll back the 'new (un)improved' bus network.

The previous one wasn't perfect, but the new one is far worse.

They just don't live in the real world with the rest of us, and have no idea of day-to-day family requirements.

Mokhles Sidden's letter of September 16 perpetuates the falsehood that the current debacle and hideous expense in implementing the National Broadband Network is due to the Labour government under Kevin Rudd.

In fact, (as attested by numerous experts, including the head of the NBN under the AbbotT government), the Labor plan would have probably come in under budget due to the drop in cost of the final runs of optical fibre and connecting electronics.

Instead, because of AbboTt's dog-in-the-manger politics, the use of FTTN resulted in major cost overruns.

These were due first to having renegotiate with Telstra, to having to work with old wire and in many cases replacing it with new wire, as opposed to pulling it all out (a relatively easy job) and pulling in smaller fibre cable.

Having to rework or replace unsuitable cable systems has resulted in an inferior product that has cost far too much and will shortly need to be replaced with FTTP in order to deliver 21st century functionality.

The outcome of the Morrison-Trump meeting is crystal clear.

One will be trumped by the other.

The Canberra Times headline, "Flight path noise fears" should get the old "Dragway Away" consortium of interfering Nimbies going.

When Block 51, Majura was touted as the location for a new feasible and economically viable motoring/sport/business/entertainment park many years ago, they - the "Dragway Away" lot - barked out loud.

The top fuel noise, which would have only been 24 to 30 of 8760 hours per year, was said to be not on, as well as inferences that Mount Ainslie could subside and drag racing could be a weekly happening - all of which were total fabrications to scare and could not have been further from the truth.

But this group had the ear of consecutive ACT governments who continually travelled to the beat of the "Dragway Away" drum and showed no interest in listening to genuine reason. Back to you, Nimbies.

With their credibility in tatters, Australia's aged care bosses must prove their entitlement to a social licence by accountability, before consideration is given to tossing further buckets of public money into the ocean in which they're presently luxuriating.

Email: letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au. Send from the message field, not as an attachment. Fax: 6280 2282. Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Canberra Times, PO Box 7155, Canberra Mail Centre, ACT 2610.

Keep your letter to 250 or fewer words. References to Canberra Times reports should include date and page number. Letters may be edited. Provide phone number and full home address (suburb only published).

To send a letter via the online form, click or touch here.