February 9, 2008
Letters, Scotland

That's way the wind blows

The population of the Western Isles has been in freefall for the past 60 years, without any concern being shown by the British government or the Scottish business fraternity, and the erection of a huge wind farm on Lewis is not going to repopulate the island (Letters, 4 February).
Apart from employing a few maintenance fitters, the Lewis Wind Power Project will not provide much employment once the turbines have been erected.

The headquarters, administration and research will be based at AMEC’s offices on Tyneside. The profits from the project will be skimmed off to shareholders, with little of the revenue remaining in Lewis.

While the population of the Western Isles has more or less halved since 1900, the population of Iceland, to our north, has increased fourfold. This is due to their government’s protection of their fishing industry, now employing thousands.

DONALD J MacLEOD, Woodcroft Avenue, Bridge of Don, Aberdeenshire

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Sadly, the attitude of the STUC and CBI to the Lewis wind farm (Letters, 4 February) once more clearly reflects the way the world is going. The demand from developers everywhere, whether for logging rainforests, opencast mining, draining wetlands for irrigation, driving roads through primeval forests, etc, is forcing wildlife into ever smaller areas. Ultimately, many species will disappear for ever.

The outlook is not good for the planet, but in this country, the least the government can do is to ensure special designated wildlife areas are given total protection.

FRANK HAMILTON, Campbell Road, Longniddry, East Lothian

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The Scotsman

9 February 2008


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/02/09/thats-way-the-wind-blows/