Wednesday, March 23, 2005

The Scotsman - Business - Stars' backing gives lift to wind farms' cause

SCOTTISH celebrities including pop star Alex Kapranos, the actor Brian Cox, Magnus Magnusson, the broadcaster, and Anna Ryder Richardson, the Changing Rooms designer, have thrown their support behind a campaign to build wind farms.

The celebrity endorsement comes as a poll released yesterday reveals that three-quarters of Scots are prepared to back the development of controversial wind farms to meet the country's energy needs...
The fight for and against wind farms has become very interesting, and not just in Scotland. My guess is that the favorable poll will be countered by the opposition with an unfavorable poll, which will be countered...

There have been wild claims being made on both sides of this for quite some time now. The poor folks in the middle, armed with facts, can't seem to get heard for all the shouting by people for whom this is strangely and obsessively visceral. And I'm not saying that I know what the facts are. I'm quite frankly in something like duck and cover mode, trying not to get caught in the crossfire from the opposing camps. It's unbelievable how nasty some of this has been.

For other alternative energy news, there's "'Hot rocks' answer to power problem" at http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=605&id=293422005 about an African project, "Heat from the earth will be mine all mine" at http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=605&id=277482005&20050323184718 about a Lothian project utilizing old mines, and "MPs to cap cost of connecting green energy generators" at http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=605&id=253822005 about the Scottish electricity market.

And just a plug for an event coming up July 29-31, 2005 in John Day, Oregon. The annual SolWest Fair generally draws a nice international crowd, and there are 'alternatively fueled' vehicle races, too. See www.solwest.org for more information. And don't let the name fool you. It started out as a solar energy enthusiasts' rendezvous, but now covers all manner of energy sources and conservation.

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