Wednesday 16 December 2009

Greens - who'd have them?

No, no, not the ones you get with your dinner, the eco-activist type. There I was sitting happily at my desk 29 hours ago when along comes Oor James to tell me that there was lots of evidence about the effects of windfarms on the environment. "Excellent" said I in my sage-like way, "Can you send me the link? I'm interested in reading about it." James assured me that it was no bother at all and he'd send it as soon as he got back to his desk - 35 hours ago...

Huh!

Anyway, a wee while back, our group in the European Parliament (Green/EFA - SNP is an EFA member party) went to Copenhagen to raise awareness of some issues ahead of the current beano there (videos are available). Part of the trip was to the Little Mermaid as below:
I'm told that there was a conversation during this event between two MEPs that went something like this:
"She's a mermaid, right?"
"Yes, well spotted."
"Do you think she's really concerned about rising sea levels?"
"Good point - it was the life preserver I was confused by though..."

1 comment:

James Mackenzie said...

Patience, dear boy, I don't spend all day fact-checking your latest anxiety about trams ...

Do they cause cancer? Will they somehow reduce Scotland's chances of winning the World Cup?

... or indeed wind turbines.

Here's the best work I've seen, but it's a bit old. Short version, up to 100 times the then install capacity would be required before there's any chance of any identifiable effect, and even then it would lead to a "near-zero change in global mean temperature".

Furthermore, if we ever did make a change: "The direct climatic changes that are due to wind power may be beneficial because they can act to reduce, rather than increase, aggregate climate impacts."