April 19, 2021
Letters, Scotland

Seabirds at risk

Letters | The Scotsman | Monday, 19th April 2021 | www.scotsman.com

How tragic it is to read that our blundering politicians in their efforts to “save the planet’ will actually be contributing to an accelerating environmental disaster.

How can the 290 jobs being created to build wind turbine generator foundation jackets at the BiFab yard in Methil (Scotsman, 16 April) be desicribed as “green jobs”? It is patently ridiculous.

Specifically, as the Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm – the destination for the foundation jackets – should never have been approved in the first place.

The RSPB was so incensed by the Firth of Forth offshore wind farms during the planning process, it described them as “the most damaging wind farms for seabirds anywhere in the world” and the Firth of Forth as “of international importance to wildlife”.

They were so appalled by the Scottish Government’s cavalier attitude to birdlife that they took them all the way to the Supreme Court!

The RSPB also objected to the Moray West offshore wind farm, describing the environmental assessment submitted by the project as “incomplete and inadequate”. They added that the initiative could “spell disaster for some of our most valued seabird populations”.

Indeed, they described the proliferation of offshore wind farms in the North Sea as “the final nail in the coffin for seabirds”.

Wiping out wildlife is a tragically abhorrent way to “save the planet”.

George Herraghty

Lhanbryde, Elgin, Moray

Blown off course

It is disappointing to see The Scotsman resurrecting Alex Salmond’s absurd “Saudi Arabia of wind” claim (17 April).

Saudi Arabia makes money selling oil to other countries. UK consumers pay money in subsidies to mostly foreign-owned energy companies.

Oil and gas are internationally traded commodities which are readily transported in large quantities over long distances. The capacity of a single large tanker whichcan travel anywhere in the world is equivalent to about 1,200GW. The UK’s electricity infrastructure struggles to export 3GW from Scotland to England.

Jack W Ponton

Emeritus professor of engineering, Legerwood, Earlston, Berwickshire


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2021/04/19/seabirds-at-risk/