LETTER AS SUBMITTED TO THE NORTH WALES PIONEER

Dear Editor,

PROPOSED GWYNT Y MOR WIND FARM

At the public meeting yesterday in Llandudno Town Hall about the proposed Gwynt y Mor wind farm, the main concerns seemed to be about the effect of the wind farm on the view out to sea and the possibility that tourists might be discouraged from visiting the area.

It should not be forgotten that the proposed wind farm is a small part of what needs to be done to combat the threat of climate change. It is easy to imagine that we can continue with ‘business as usual’. But given the dangers of unrestrained climate change, this is simply not an option.

In the summer of 2003, the heat wave over Europe caused 14,800 premature deaths in France and 35,000 in Europe as a whole. Temperatures were higher than at any time since instrumental recordings began in 1851. This could have been a random event that is not likely to occur again for a very long time. But scientists have calculated that this is very likely to have been the result of human-induced climate change. Events of this kind are likely to get progressively more frequent in the future. We cannot stop some of this increase but decisive action is needed now to ensure that our children and grandchildren do not inherit a nightmare world.

More about the threat of climate change may be found at www.mng.org.uk/green_house/threat/threat.htm.

Since the Labour Government came to power, UK emissions of CO₂ have been rising and we are in danger of missing the very modest targets of the Kyoto agreement, let alone the more ambitious targets that the Government has set. If the UK is to have any credibility in international negotiations and any chance of persuading the US Government to join the Kyoto treaty, it is essential that our CO₂ emissions start falling and continue falling year by year.

Of course it would not be fair to place the entire burden of solving this problem on the people of North Wales. But from the panoramic photo-montages on show at the meeting, one can see that the visual effect of the wind farm will be small. And available evidence shows that this kind of development does not effect tourism adversely and may be an attraction for visitors. Renewable energy is one of the World’s fastest growing industries and offers many opportunities for new jobs.

Yours sincerely

(Dr) Gerry Wolff