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Somerfield
and
Climate Change
Below are
extracts of letters between the supermarket company Somerfield and Peter Shullot
about climate change. The letters in full are at the bottom of the page. This is
one of 65 sets of letters so you can find out what your supermarket, energy
supplier and car manufacturer, and oil companies, airlines, house builders and
other companies really think about climate change. The name Peter Shullot
is made up – it is an anagram of The Polluters.
To Paul Mason, Chief
Executive –
You have won the Supreme Retailer of Cheese award at the Nantwich International
Cheese Festival. Well deserved. It shows you live up to your slogan,
Good food made easy.
Mrs Shullot and I know what an
excellent cheddar you sell. It seems to have a strangely pacifying influence on
our boy, Wayne (17), who is in need of it after a night of TV (“television”),
violent video games, and 18-rated DVDs.
The reason I am writing is climate change. Now I’m sure you get a lot of letters
from customers about the environment, but this letter is different and is one
you might actually like. I think we’re all doing too much for the environment,
not too little. I’m all for using fewer plastic bags and more stores so I don’t
need to drive too far to reach one, but what we and you are being expected to do
to “save the planet” is just going too far.
We all need to calm down and get on with what we’re best at – being selfish.
After all that’s what Adam Smith said in The Wealth of Nations and look
where it got him – he’s now on the back of the £20 note!
Somerfield
replied –
Thank you for your letter on climate change. Your are quite right – yours is the
only letter we have received taking this viewpoint!
Whatever we think, we know the Government will tax businesses on greenhouse gas
emissions in the future.
As such, we have no alternative but to take these issues seriously and set up
our business to respond to these changes.
After all, if you stop using the free bags it reduces the cost of the bags we
purchase to give away ‘free’ – currently a cost to Somerfield of £6million. I am
sure Adam Smith would have approved!
Letter to Somerfield
Reply from Somerfield
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