Some might find wind turbines ugly but so are motorways - Yorkshire Post Letters

Climate change and Net Zero are frequent topics of debate. Looking at the letters, I’ve noticed marked differences between the claims made and approaches taken.

Those supporting action use hard facts; polar ice, global temperature rise, CO2 ppm.

However, claims by those opposed to action are normally less quantifiable.

When considering solar farms or wind turbines; these are often claimed to be ‘ugly’ and/or ‘ineffective’.

Taking the first claim, maybe some do find them ugly, but where have these people been for the rest of their lives? Ugly structures in Britain are nothing new. Power stations, sewerage plants, motorways and huge steel pylons have been around for all of our lives. Why have these commenters never objected before? Why have their architectural sensibilities suddenly become so sharp?

Secondly, the claim that they’re ‘not needed’ or ‘ineffective’. This often goes with the claim that the need for net zero is ‘a lie’ i.e. climate change is either not happening, or that it is happening but not man-made. These are often backed up with claims that ‘countless scientists’ or IPCC publications support their view, or strawman arguments such as that that most of the birds in Britain will be killed by wind farms. If they were asked to quantify these countless scientists or produce the IPCC report, they wouldn’t be able to.

So what’s happening? Why are these commenters so worked up about solar or wind farms? Clearly these do generate power without emitting CO2. We’ve already shown these are aesthetically no different to dozens of other manmade structures and there is unchallengeable science behind the need for action.

Is it that people are afraid of change? That they don’t want to see their old lifestyles replaced? Do they therefore pretend there’s no need for change to happen, and so try to stop it?

They need to get real. They cannot stop climate change by wishing it away, or delaying, any more than Canute could stop the tide. Climate change is a pressure cooker and what they are trying to do is hold the weight down.

The explosion, when it comes, will be very severe and threaten their children’s lives and millions of others.