Support For Wind Energy

Recent studies have shown that the majority of people are in favour of onshore suppliers of wind energy, but would be less likely to cast their vote.

A number of MPs have claimed that wind farms would be too expensive, despite growing evidence that people would in fact be more likely to vote for them if they were seen to be in favour of environmentally friendly energy.

At the end of last month, The Department of Energy and Climate Change gathered and released data that showed strong support for those in favour of wind energy, and on 1st May a series of polls were commissioned by RenewableUK, which revealed how voters really feel about the views of their local MPs on core issues such as climate change.

However, the number of voters could use a boost in many demographics; proportions of pro-wind energy votes are high among Labour and Liberal Democrat voters, but votes are also relatively high among Tory voters, 33% of whom would support a pro-wind farm candidate. Furthermore, 23% of UKIP voters claim that they would be more likely to vote for a candidate that openly supports wind energy, clearly leaving the rest of UKIP voters in a state of non-support, or uncertainty.

One vote that was given in a surprising quantity was “makes no difference”, which may lend more credibility to the notion that people are not, in fact, opposed to wind farm energy, which many MPs have been claiming, but that there are simply too many other issues to take into consideration.

Propelling wind energy to the forefront of the minds of the people will be something of a challenge, given the priority of other issues, such as welfare cuts, immigration and affordable housing. Yet with various contemporary issues to contend with, the importance of wind energy, and its potential to help conserve the environment in the future, should not be neglected when there are more potential voters than ever before, all of whom have the chance to make a difference to the environmental wellbeing of the country.

Kent Airport Development Causes Concern

The proposal to expand a small Kent airport into a “regional hub”, which has just been approved by the government, has caused great concern for environmental campaigners.

LyddAirport in Romney Marsh has now been granted permission to expand its runway and to build a new terminal building, and about half a million more passengers could potentially be accommodated by this new development. However, although there is a prevailing optimism about the new airport, as it would certainly give the area a higher profile, there is growing anger that the local area – where there is an abundance of wildlife – will be endangered by the encroachment of a much bigger airport. For many species, the “Garden of England” is a natural refuge.

Green Party MEP, Keith Taylor, has commented on the new development, saying that there are “huge concerns about the impact these proposals would have in terms of the increase in pollution for local residents and the threat to important wildlife.”

This development has emerged amid worldwide concerns that the progression of low-carbon energy is not happening quickly enough to offset global warming. The International Energy Agency has reported that there has only been a 25% growth in non-fossil fuel generation, compared to 45% of fossil fuel generation.

New developments that would help offset the still-excessive CO2 emissions, such as carbon capture and storage, while still being developed and built, are simply not appearing fast enough to counteract the growing worldwide damage.

While countries such as the US are pioneering ways to generate environmentally friendly energy (such as shale gas technology), the majority of Europe is still, allegedly, falling far short of targets which need to be met to see a maximum rise in global temperature of 2 degrees celsius by the end of the century.

The new airport development at Romney Marsh will certainly be an economic asset for the region, and will create much-needed jobs, however it is important that it tries to remain environmentally responsible, so that it can help the region to uphold the reputation of being an ecological haven.