This is a letter from Scottish Conservative Party leader Ruth Davidson to a windfarm campaigner. It was posted on the Facebook page of the Stop St Andrews University Windfarm group.
Thank you for contacting me about the issue of windfarms.
There is no doubt that renewable energy is a potentially highly beneficial energy source. However it should not be pushed upon the people of Scotland at any cost. Although attaining clean, renewable energy sources should always remain a priority for Scotland, current strategies excessively burden communities, outweighing any possible benefits. In particular, many people feel that their communities are coming under attack as wind farm developers submit increasing numbers of speculative applications for industrial wind farms. The current Government’s obsession with wind energy over all other energy sources and the lack of any coherent strategy to ensure that wind farms are put in appropriate locations, is unacceptable.
The continuing lack of any proper guidance to local authorities from Government on the siting of wind farms is the root cause of much of the anger and frustration felt in communities across Scotland. The cumulative impact of more and more wind farms is becoming almost unbearable for an increasing number of people. It is for this reason that we have called on the Scottish Government to consider a moratorium on further development until the public’s concerns have been addressed.
We should not forget that nuclear power currently provides a large proportion of our electricity needs, yet Alex Salmond has, thus far, failed to include nuclear power in its energy strategy. Nuclear power provides thousands of jobs, which guarantees Scotland’s retention of engineering talent. Despite what the SNP Government might say about the safety of nuclear power, the fact remains that Scotland is one of the world’s safest nuclear power providers. While the wind may not blow, nuclear provides a reliable and secure energy supply.
The Scottish Government has set an ambitious target of sourcing 100% of our electricity needs from renewable sources by 2020, and while that target is questionable in itself, it is even more unlikely to be achieved when the SNP government places greater emphasis on wind power at the expense of other sources of renewable energy. By focusing on wind energy, which is highly unreliable, the Scottish Government is failing to plan to provide Scotland with a secure energy supply.
Thank you for taking the time to contact me and for making me aware of your position.
Yours sincerely,
Ruth Davidson MSP
The suggestion that renewables are good but windfarms are bad seems rather odd in the Scottish context, since there are few other forms of renewables on the table at the moment. I don't know whether this represents the beginning of the Tories backing away from greenery or just standard political two-facedness.
Bishop Hill 