IMPORTANT - Ethical Questions

[Alison]

There is no one solution re energy provision, we all should reduce our own personal wastage which would certainly help. Wind farms do have their place in helping relieve our reliance on fossil fuels but are not always implemented in a sensible manner or in an appropriate place for the need. I heard a great story a few months ago about a village who had bought a wind turbine between them to serve all the houses and would them sell any excess back to the national grid. Not surprisingly they were very happy with this arrangement and the visual impact was easily outweighed by the fact that they were self reliant and not subject to increasing fuel prices. Any changes we make have an imact on the environment, some visual, some aerial etc etc.

[Birdie Wife]

I agree with you Alison, we all have to make sacrifices and do our bit, which potentially includes the visual intrusion of large structures like windfarms on our landscape. I actually think they are quite graceful structures. However, there are good places and bad places for windfarms, and this is a bad one! The blanket bog surrounding us up here can be described as the closest thing you'll ever get to a natural landscape in Britain - the Rolls Royce of our natural land. Windfarms are very contentious for all sorts of reasons, and I'm not a 'not-in-my-back-yard' sort of person, although i do love the wide open landscapes and big skies. I think micro-generation is an important aspect that the goverment aren't doing enough to encourage, community schemes great, just please no massive farms right in the middle of our most precious natural heritage!

[smallblueplanet]

I'm with you on wind farms B_W, they're nowhere near the universal 'green' panacea they're touted to be.

And its not just the natural heritage they can destroy, archeological heritage too. Think there's folk on the Isle of Lewis not too keen?

Also what happens when the wind doesn't blow, or blows too strongly, etc....

[srodders]

Environmental taxes are one of the biggest cons going - they're just another way for governments to get their hands on your money.

Climate change is happening - there is NOTHING that man can do to stop it. Whilst I agree that we should live in an environmentally (and ethically) friendly manner, we can do Jack to stop it.

How was the seminar by the way?

[OverWyreGrower]

Just back! It was very interesting actually (especially the woman who insisted on breast feeding her baby right in front of Leo...**)

**Not that I think breast-feeding is wrong, but maybe there are right places and times to do it - i.e. not sitting in the front row of a seminar at a university

I'll collect my notes/thoughts and try and get something down on this thread

[Alison]

I agree with you Alison, we all have to make sacrifices and do our bit, which potentially includes the visual intrusion of large structures like windfarms on our landscape. I actually think they are quite graceful structures. However, there are good places and bad places for windfarms, and this is a bad one! The blanket bog surrounding us up here can be described as the closest thing you'll ever get to a natural landscape in Britain - the Rolls Royce of our natural land. Windfarms are very contentious for all sorts of reasons, and I'm not a 'not-in-my-back-yard' sort of person, although i do love the wide open landscapes and big skies. I think micro-generation is an important aspect that the goverment aren't doing enough to encourage, community schemes great, just please no massive farms right in the middle of our most precious natural heritage!

Hope you didn't think I was having a go at you, just observing that few things are totally good or bad.

Just back! It was very interesting actually (especially the woman who insisted on breast feeding her baby right in front of Leo...**)

**Not that I think breast-feeding is wrong, but maybe there are right places and times to do it - i.e. not sitting in the front row of a seminar at a university

I'll collect my notes/thoughts and try and get something down on this thread

Would have thought it was a bit off putting to a speaker having somebody so engrossed in another activity whatever it is! Thanks in advance for your notes, will be most appreciate.

[Birdie Wife]

Oh no, totally not Alison, I was worried you might have thought I was having a go at you! It's really difficult even with emoticons to get your meaning across, no?

[Alison]

Know what you mean, it's easy for jokey comments to come across wrong and I can never work out which smillie to use where!

On a positive note, at least I've managed to get a multiple quote thing to work at last!!!!!!