Voters will agree with Donald Trump, not Ed Miliband about wind farms

Telegraph

6 days ago

Who's right about wind farms? Donald Trump or Labour and the SNP?
The question arises because the wheels of Air Force One had barely touched down back in the USA before his opponents started singing the praises of wind farms.
After Trump's pretty savage attack in which he described them, variously, as 'ugly' and as bird killers, ministers from both the British and Scottish Governments queued up to disagree with him.
Labour and the SNP heaped praise on the decision to allow the development of what may turn out to be one of the world's biggest wind farms – with 307 turbines – at what's known as Berwick Bank, off the coast of East Lothian.
Scottish Secretary Ian Murray welcomed the decision taken by the SNP – an extremely rare event – and said it tied in with his determination to prioritise more clean energy jobs in Scotland. And he said that the Berwick Bank project had the potential to make a 'huge contribution' to the UK Government's energy policy. Mind you, I don't for a second think that Mr Murray's priorities played any part in the Nats' decision.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband also praised the SNP decision saying that it meant the British Government was now 'within touching distance' of its offshore wind targets to deliver clean power by 2030. He added that the Berwick Bank decision was helping secure Britain's energy security.
However, it's pretty certain that the relevant SNP minister, Kate Forbes, while acknowledging the gratitude of her political enemies, would prefer to hail her decision as a major contribution to Scotland's – and not necessarily Britain's – energy future.
With opponents of this huge venture insisting that a wind farm on this scale would result in the death of thousands of sea birds – including everyone's favourite, puffins – Scotland's Deputy First Minister insisted that her final approval was subject to a 'detailed seabird compensation plan', to show how the birds could be saved.
How's that for a bit of typical SNP 'havering' and trying to keep everyone sweet – from hungry developers to bird lovers?
But Kate Forbes is at least one of the more practical nationalists and said that this project was a major step in Scotland's progress towards achieving net zero and tackling the climate crisis, as well as supporting national energy security and growing our green economy.
During his recent Scottish visit Trump returned to his frequently expressed view that wind turbines were 'ugly, costly and harmful to wildlife', while large scale wind farms were 'a con job'.
Both Labour and the SNP are super-keen on renewables, but while voters might still be persuaded about a rosy future for wind power, ministers in both parties would be mad to sneer at Trump's words about North Sea oil and gas being a 'treasure chest' for the UK.
I'm certain that a great many voters agree with him, and will vote accordingly in next year's Scottish Parliament election.