September 22, 2014
Australia

Wind farm protesters gathered outside the ACT Legislative Assembly

Southern Weekly | Sept. 22, 2014 | www.southernweekly.com.au

Wind farm protesters gathered outside the ACT Legislative Assembly in Civic on September 16.

Protesters came from Collector, Tarago, Rye Park and Yass.

Federal member for Hume Angus Taylor joined the protests to show his support for locals.

“The ACT Government believes the vast majority of people living in these areas are supportive of wind farms. The reality is they’re not. I represent these communities and the ACT Government needs to hear this message loud and clear,” Mr Taylor said.

Petitions with 800 signatures were lodged calling on the ACT Government not to fund projects that were opposed by local communities.

There was also a survey tabled in the assembly showing that 70 percent of residents objected to a planned wind farm in the Yass Valley.

“The ACT’s plan to produce 90% of its energy from renewables by 2020 is going to cost the people of Canberra $370 million dollars in extra electricity bills. And it’s deeply questionable as to whether it will have any impact on Australia’s carbon emissions,” Mr Taylor said.

“There’s certainly a place for renewable energy in the capital region – the real problem with wind is that it’s expensive. The ACT Government’s own documents tell us that they expect the cost per megawatt hour of electricity to be over $100, that’s over three times the cost of conventional energy, so it’s a very expensive way to reduce carbon emissions. The economics and the policy do not stack up.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/09/22/wind-farm-protesters-gathered-outside-the-act-legislative-assembly/