Counterpoint

After the news surrounding the wind farm proposals, one villager has a slightly opposing view...(from May 2014 edition)

AFTER READING THE last village newsletter, I realised that many of us are still in denial of what is happening to our world.  We are facing the biggest planetary crisis of our time.  Unless we act now, coral reefs will be gone forever, polar bears will only be in zoos, and our children will live in a flooded and scorched mess of a planet.  This is not scare-mongering.  Experts and scientists are clear that Europe must decide on a strong set of goals to reduce pollution by half, improve energy efficiency, and trigger a clean energy revolution, and this might just be enough to get other countries to sign up to a global climate deal in Paris next year.  The time for action is rapidly dwindling.

So what can we, in our small corner, do to help keep the lights on and avoid ending up awash as recently happened in the Somerset Levels?  After all, we live in a very similar landscape, artificially created by a sophisticated system of land drainage and dependent on vast sea defences.  We may well be concerned about the value of our properties once wind turbines are erected across our marshes, but what I wonder will be their value once we have water lapping at our thresholds? 

Most people acknowledge that unusual weather patterns are increasingly commonplace.  It is now an accepted fact that climate change is occurring, and also an accepted fact that burning fossil fuels contributes to climate change.  However, our demands for energy are increasing.  What can be done?

We need all types of energy sources which do not cause carbon emissions, not just wind turbines, but also solar generation, tidal and wave power, and other forms of clean energy still in their infancy, as much and as quickly as possible, to meet our energy needs.  Until such time as other sources of power are available, we have no option but to accept that wind turbines are the most appropriate immediate solution.

Britain is already failing dismally to achieve its 2020 target for renewable energy.  The share of energy it generates from renewables is among the lowest across the EU.

Nobody loves our flat, atmospheric landscape more than me, with its distant horizons and huge skies.  I would do anything possible to protect it.  I am sure that one day we would all wish to be able to look our grand-children in the eye and answer honestly when they ask:  “What did you do to help curb CO₂ emissions?”

 - Maureen Barnett
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