I'm concerned the more politicians use environmental issues such as
the OBP for "bogus" reasons (such as politics), the majority of our
environmentally non-aware population will become even more cynical
about such issues. If the OBP is being used now in a situation that
really is not critical to that species, most people will just go "Oh
yeah, not again, whatever", when the next threat to a genuine area of
environmental importance occurs (e.g. Point Wilson). It seems to me
the argument against wind farms is aesthetics as much as anything;
the OBP has just clouded the issue. Personally, and no doubt I will
be corrected, I quite like the look of them; giant triffid-like
beasts, like the Martian craft on the cover of "War of the Worlds"!
Cheers,
Geoff.
At 05:08 PM 10-04-06, you wrote:
Thankyou Evan.
Why should the local Victorians not oppose
a wind farm in their beloved landscape?
I know Capertee well, the Valley is rural
but visually unpolluted and a decidedly beautiful Australian
Landscape, as opposed to the Great Australian Ugliness, of which
windfarms are an extension. Who would favour a windfarm on top of
the Capertee escarpments? There's plenty of wind up there, and if
you think that the commercial protaganists of windfarms
haven't, looked at those escarpments, and aren't still looking,
think again.
The Wallerawang powerstation you refer to
is a long way from Capertee Valley, and set in a relatively
indifferent landscape. It also has a large dam associated with it,
hosting many birds from Sea-eagles and Great Crested Grebes down.
The suggestion that because it and
Lithgow are already there doesn't mean that it's OK to have
windfarms scattered over really attractive land. The scale of
turbine visiblity dwarfs that of powerstations.
Wind turbines have sprung up in what once
looked like pristine Blue Mountains National Park, visible south
of the Great Western Highway from the last corner before Bowenfels
(Lithgow), a sight to bring tears to the eye of
any environmentalist. These are obvious because they are white (or
silver) against the forested background of the mountains, not
because they are protruding above the horizon. Maybe they could
paint them green so that they would be less apparent.
Many developments can be and are hidden, but
wind turbines are appallingly intrusive and inescapable to the eye
from k's away.
Do the pro-windmillers have a hidden
agenda or do they just like the look of wind turbines? Is this
discussion about OBPs, aesthetics, or the apparent inconsistency of
the Federal Government? How many kilowatts is an OBP worth?
Cheers
Michael
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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