Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
Pressure mounts over Government “green” plans
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Growing opposition to the Government’s so called “green” plans reached storm force over the weekend as more and more organisations and journalists asked whether they were intended to better the environment – or raise more money in taxation.
Last week, Gordon Brown triumphantly announced plans to build 7,000 wind turbines in England to create “green” electricity – with hilly areas like the Yorkshire Dales already targeted for at least one major development and others threatened, opponents fear.
These plans were rubbished by engineers, who said that wind farms will be hopelessly inefficient and need traditional power station for back up, and economists who estimated that such developments would add another £250 a year to a family’s already soaring fuel bills.
At the weekend, protests grew to a crescendo over plans to build 15 so-called “eco-towns” in open countryside when it was revealed that several of the sites involved former airfields – including Church Fenton near Tadcaster, North Yorks – which the Government plans to sell to developers to raise an estimated £275 million in extra revenue to fill the Treasury’s empty coffers.
The so-called eco-towns have also come under attack as being little different in green terms than ordinary developments –and although supposed to provide some affordable housing for low-paid workers, the average price per house is likely to be £300,000 plus.
Today (Monday) the Campaign to Protect Rural England asks that the Government goes “back to the drawing board” because of a “worrying lack of evidence” that the proposed eco-towns would meet the latest requirements for green homes.
Opposition politicians take an even more cynical line by pointing out that most wind farms and eco-towns are likely to be built in constituencies held by Tory or Lib-Dem MPs, despite growing local opposition to both.
30 June 2008
This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.
The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.
Wind Watch relies entirely on User Contributions |
![]() (via Stripe) |
![]() (via Paypal) |
Share: