101 HEROES

After 101 dimwits from the Conservative backbenches signed a very foolish letter to David Cameron a few weeks back, calling on the PM to wreck Britain's energy future, another letter to Cameron has now appeared. This one is signed by a much more diverse group of 101 public figures, with Sir Richard Branson high up on the list. Academics and scientists are represented, as are Lords and MPs. Not many Tories, though - although Rachel Johnson, whose Tory credentials are impeccable, is a signatory.

The letter calls upon David Cameron to do the decent, sensible, intelligent, forward-thinking and practical thing by supporting renewables properly:

http://www.blog.ewea.org/2012/03/richard-branson-and-100-other-public-figures-call-for-renewable-energy-support/#more-3049

That's more like it. It's a sad fact that the voice of the nimby minority, which is incapable of doing anything but opposing progress and telling lies about renewables - wind energy especially - is too frequently heard, because it is noisy, abrasive, aggressive and intolerant of other opinions. The Tory bigots who signed the letter to Cameron of a few weeks ago are symptomatic of the nimby insanity which has blighted this country of ours. Their arguments are fraudulent, their claims are ludicrous, and their interest in reality is minimal.

So let's be thankful to the 101 public figures from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines who have spoken up for renewables. These people have the facts at their fingertips and the interests of the nation and the planet at heart. Unlike their 101 doltish counterparts in the Conservative Party.

Oh, and another thing. We can't help but notice that one or two people have been finding this blog thanks to a wholly misleading comment on the www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk website. Evidently, there are some who use that site who don't believe in green building.

In the midst of a very silly discussion on there about a certain couple who claimed to have been driven from their home by a nearby windfarm (a complicated case, not made any easier by the fact that the couple insisted that they had "heard" the windfarm when it wasn't even operational, and when they were five miles away from it), one zealot posted a link to this blog. The zealot's accompanying remark indicated that he considered this blog "an unedifying example of the kind of brutish response anyone expressing concerns about a windfarm development is likely to encounter".

Well, let us set the record straight. The idiot who posted that link is without doubt a nimby - because only the nimbies are as out-of-touch with the real world as to imagine that brutish responses come from windfarm supporters. What such nimbies will never admit is that it is they who launch brutish responses to anyone who expresses support for a windfarm development.

If anyone doubts that, let them take a good hard look at their local nimby campaign. The people behind it, and those who get caught up in the fanaticism inspired by the false claims and moronic scare stories spread by the nimby leaders, will be the brutish ones.

Expressing concern about a windfarm development is not necessarily wrong, in our view. What is wrong is inventing concerns, forcing other people to invent false concerns, campaigning on a wholly unscrupulous platform of fake concerns, misquoting evidence to support those bogus concerns, intimidating anyone who has had the good taste and common sense to find out the truth about those silly concerns, and refusing point-blank to investigate legitimate concerns properly in order to put your mind at rest.

Those who have concerns about a proposed windfarm development are actively encouraged by us here at Wind of Change to find out more. Best of all, go visit a few windfarms. Don't take the word of your local nimbies for it, because they're self-serving liars. Do your own research, and don't restrict that research to other nimby groups' websites. There is a wealth of good, reliable information out there to help you get the measure of what a windfarm might mean for you (keeping it simple: you've got nothing to worry about). But most of all, go and get as close as you can to as many working windfarms as you can.

So, to the nimby fool who posted that link to our blog with his own bigoted comments, we say this: we are the ones who are exposing the fraudulent claims and the false statements, the intolerant behaviour and nimby madness of those who conjure up unnecessary concerns purely to force others into opposing harmless developments. They are the ones whose response tends to be brutish (as well as dishonest).

And if you were honest and clear-sighted, you'd know that. We've worked hard to supply the facts about windfarms - the real facts, that is, not the lunatic falsehoods peddled by the nimbies - and to address the legitimate concerns of the public. You, sir, are the sort who will happily whip up unnecessary fears for your own peculiar reasons. The "unedifying example" is your own. The "brutish response" is usually that of those you seem to agree with.

We will always deal as honestly and straightforwardly as possible with concerns about wind power. Unlike the sort of nimby crank who thinks that our approach is "unedifying".

Anyone, please now go and look at that letter (link above). It's pretty good.