this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2024
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UK Politics

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And while the Greens are doing what they do best (opposing green development), the Labour government has already lifted the Tory ban on onshore windfarms.

This is odd, because Labour are the same as the Tories, as we all know, and the Greens are a radical new force. But in this case, Labour are doing the direct opposite of the Tories, while the Greens are doing the same things the Tories did! Most curious.

EDIT: Here's the official government statement confirming this.

EDIT 2: And this isn't all! Rachel Reeves is also planning to do more to make onshore wind simpler to build.

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[–] [email protected] 68 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Fuck yes. I live very close to a wind farm and can see them from my window. They’re marvels and, alongside the several local solar farms too, it’s such a positive feeling knowing that, regardless of the weather, clean energy is being created.

I know plenty oppose these things but having grown up next to a coal power plant, I’ll take a stunning wind turbine any day over those giant cooling tower monstrosities.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 3 months ago (3 children)

I think a lot of people struggle to tell the difference between something that changes the view and something that ruins the view. Wind turbines will change a view, of course, because they're a new addition. But there's no sense in which they make it worse!

[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 months ago (1 children)

But anything new is bad! Everything must remain the way it never was!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

When the national grid was being established a lot of people were very against the pylons being erected for very similar reasons that people are against wind farms. But who wants to stand up and say they want to go back to a time where having electricity in your household wasn't a normal thing now?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

People don't want power lines, solar panels, coal plants, wind turbines, etc. But of course they all want electricity. It just doesn't make sense.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Look, I get my internet through the air, why can't you send my electricity through the air?

gets struck by lightning

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

Fully agree. People travel for thousands of miles to see the windmills in the Netherlands. They’re no different and the beautiful white and curved designs makes them look like a true wonder of modern engineering achievement.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Arguably anything man-made makes a view worse, but as far as man-made structures go they're beautiful. And they give you a free wind gauge just by looking out the window. I'd rather see thousands of turbines on the horizon vs the glow of oil fields or plumes of smoke/steam.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 months ago

I live relatively close to an offshore wind farm as well as a number of onshore turbines. I like them and don't feel they detract from the view - at night the red warning lights look amazing.

When the offshore ones were being planned a neighbour objected and had an artist's impression made of the view of them from his house. It made the papers and we solidly took the piss out of him because that view would only be possible if you built a crow's nest on a long poll right on top of his house and used binoculars.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

What was it like next to a coal plant? Did you get ash? Coughing fits?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

No ash or dark fumes emitted - I assume did something clever underground to capture or filter it. But plenty of steam billowed out of the cooling tower. During cooler parts of the year, the steam would freeze and turn into snow which was a lot of fun to go and have a snowball fight in late autumn.

But then again, I’m possibly just blissfully ignorant and lung cancer will get me any day now.