Political Issues
The links below cover some of the many political questions concerning wind power. SHOWT takes no responsibility for the views expressed in these documents, but they make interesting reading.
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- House of Lords, Select Committee on Economic Affairs, 'The Economics of Climate Change'. (2nd Report of Session 2005-06) - "Given the wide array of potential technologies ... we are surprised that the Government’s Energy White Paper should place such emphasis on just one technology, wind energy."
- Elizabeth Mann - 'The Democratic Deficit' - Examines aspects of the political/planning background of the wind power business in the North East.
- Oxford Energy Institute Comment on SDC Report. (May, 2005) - Malcolm Keay of OEI comments on the recent Sustainable Development Commission report on wind power generation. - "the report presents a distorted picture, exaggerating the benefits of wind power and underestimating the costs."
- Public Accounts Committee Report on Renewable Energy (15 September 2005). (PDF file) - Parliament’s Public Accounts committee criticises the existing renewables subsidy system as both wasteful and unjustifiably expensive.
- UK Energy Policy: The Small Business Perspective & The Impact on the Rural Economy. Researched and written by Candida Whitmill for, and on behalf of, the Small Business Council, February 2006. [PDF file]
- The Scottish Wind Assessment Project - "An ongoing programme of research which seeks to collate existing studies and commission new research to promote a thorough investigation of the claims made for and against the use of wind-generated energy."
- Views of Scotland - States that, "the case for wind power is seriously flawed from a scientific, economic and political perspective. Construction of wind power stations is causing unjustifiable and irreversible damage to some of Scotland’s greatest assets."