Bring on the onshore wind

Doing something about climate change is essential. And as recent bills have shown, doing something about being self-sufficient in energy production is also essential. So who wouldn't love something that helps with both? The government's MPs, apparently. They seem to be distinctly against onshore wind turbines, a preference that also seems baked into the government's plans:

A massive 64% of Conservative MPs think that most voters in their constituency would oppose wind turbines. But here's the thing. When YouGov asked the actual people, there was a very different picture:

Over 70% of Conservative voters support wind farms in their local area. The overwhelming NIMBY attitude to wind turbines is a myth. Of course you can always find someone who will moan about having anything whatsoever built within a 10 mile radius of where they live. But they are in the minority on this one.

From the stats, there's a vast gap between what Conservative MP think people want, and what the people actually want. This means that we are missing out on expanding a useful green energy source (with attached green jobs) as a result of MPs shooting themselves in the foot due to what can only be ignorance - as surely they wouldn't do this if they knew the facts.

If you're based in the UK and have a Conservative MP, why not contact them and point this out? I'm certainly going to be dropping an email to mine.

Data for graphics from YouGov; graphics from Steve Akehurst

This has been a Green Heretic production.

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