Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

Some Australians are finding Joe Hockey’s opinion on wind energy offensive and silly

Hockey-and-windJoe Hockey’s turbine huff stokes coals of discontent WA Today, 4 May 14
 Lynette Byrnes Mr Hockey finds wind turbines “utterly offensive” as he drives past them on his way to Canberra (” ‘Utterly offensive’: Hockey tilts at windmills and puts green lobby on notice”, May 3-4). Would he rather be evacuated permanently from his home because of radiation fallout as have the residents near Fukushima nuclear plant? Would he rather suffer chronic asthma from dust pollution from coal mines like Hunter Valley residents? Would he rather more global warming for all of us if we rely more on coal and gas power? Maybe being offended by wind farms is the least of our energy worries.Or perhaps we should relocate Parliament to the upper Hunter Valley so Mr Hockey can enjoy the views of “attractive” coal mines and power stations instead as he drives past? 
Sue Graykowski I am offended by Joe Hockey’s reference to the wind turbines near Lake George as a blight on the landscape. I don’t know what turned him into a “windmillgynist” – a bad holiday in Holland perhaps? I’m a tad biased, but I love them and not just for their aesthetics but for their pioneering of the inevitable: an Earth dependent on renewable energy and without Joe Hockey’s silly views.

Simeon Glasson Mr Hockey is right. As a lover of nature I agree with him 100 per cent. Wind farms are an offensive blight on nature’s beauty. As are open-cut coal mines, gold mines, uranium mines, and iron ore mines. The buildings around Sydney Harbour including the Opera House and Harbour Bridge surely spoil the sublime beauty of what must have been a pristine environment before white man arrived. LNG terminals on the (no longer so) Great Barrier Reef? Say no more. I suggest we do away with human civilisation altogether – leave the planet in all its original glory. Hmmm – maybe it’s too late for that.

So unless Mr Hockey wants to live in the Dark Ages let’s keep the wind farms – they look at least as good as some of the alternative sources of energy without the enormous environmental cost.

Andy Royal Joe Hockey is entitled to dislike wind turbines and hold other foolish opinions but he should not try to ram his “ideas” down other people’s throats or, worse, threaten to withdraw government support for green power initiatives designed to help secure a safe and secure future for our children.

Kevin Atkins  Joe Hockey, of North Sydney, the epicentre of ugly concrete and steel monstrosities, is offended by a few scattered wind turbines in country Australia which are a “blight on the landscape”. Astonishing.

Doug Steley  Joe Hockey says wind farms are “utterly offensive” and “a blight on the landscape”. I did not see him in Morewell when it was covered in toxic choking smoke and ash from the brown-coal-fired power station mine fire recently.

If he thinks a coal-fired power station is more attractive than wind turbines then I would suggest he moves and chooses to live closer to one of them.

Mona Finley Mr Hockey’s opinion of wind farms as ‘‘a blight on the landscape’’ could well go down as one of those ‘‘silly chump’’ statements that will have future generations spluttering with disbelief. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, and every time I have caught sight of wind turbines, whether in Europe, New Zealand, or Australia, they appeared to me like art installations or sculpture – gleaming white, so tall and graceful, vanes turning in a meditative manner – and on top of all that, they’re producing lovely pollution-free energy. What’s not to like?

Anne Cooper I see the wind farms on the road to Canberra and am transfixed by their clean lines and simple efficiency. Conversely, a drive through the blighted Hunter Valley coal region is truly offensive. Get some perspective, Mr Hockey. Wind turbines are just big versions of the iconic Aussie windmills.

Thos Puckett Given his tilt at “utterly offensive” wind farms is the Treasurer the Joe Quixote of the 21st century?…….http://www.watoday.com.au/comment/smh-letters/joe-hockeys-turbine-huff-stokes-coals-of-discontent-20140504-zr4ae.html#ixzz30sXmyRE3

May 5, 2014 - Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, wind

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