Sir, – The soaring price of energy is affecting everyone, and the hardest hit are the poorest, who often can't even afford to turn the heating on.

If we continue to rely on fossil fuels, bills are likely to rise in the long term as coal, oil and gas become more expensive and difficult to extract. According to most of the world’s leading scientists fossil fuels are also driving climate change, in addition to polluting people’s land, especially in developing countries.

Yet the big UK banks continue to pour billions of pounds into new coal, oil and gas projects around the world, and the government is doing nothing to stop them. Perhaps this is not surprising: research by the World Development Movement shows that a third of ministers in the coalition government have personal links to either the big fossil fuel companies or the finance companies that bankroll them.

We need a government that takes both fuel poverty and climate change seriously, not one that puts the profits of big companies before all else.

If the amount of money that goes into providing fossil fuel supplies was devoted to developing renewable energy we would all be in a much better position

CHRIS DYKE Davison Road, Darlington.