Christmas Card from Graham Lang

Thanks to Graham Lang for this contribution, sent to us from Fife in Scotland.
You can read about him on www.artistsagainstwindfarms.com at this page
and see also the www.cadeap.org website

David Hockney guest edits The Today Programme

This edition of Today has nothing to do with wind farms - we do not know what opinion David Hockney has on this subject - but this blog is about artists as well, and David Hockney is a very special artist.
You can Listen Again at this link, and hear him talk on several subjects, including the smoking ban which he is against ...
From our point of view, the most interesting section is perhaps at around 8.22 am: in it he takes Evan Davis for a drive, and talks about trees in the landscape. But do listen to the whole programme if you can, it makes a refreshing change!

A tree surgeon writes about David Hockney's trees

From Country Guardian

Greetings of the Season
to Wind Warriors Worldwide

www.countryguardian.net

Sheep in the snow

Sheep in the snow, Llwynhir, oil, by Diana Armfield RA, as seen on her page at www.artistsagainstwindfarms.com

Happy Christmas to all Wind Warriors

Alder in the snow, from an old bridge across Bradiford Water

Happy Christmas from Christine Lovelock (Devon)

Happy Christmas

Just received, this cartoon along with wishes for a Happy Christmas from David Bellamy and Jenny Keal.

This is their website: www.davidbellamy.co.uk
And you can see David speaking at the Nant-y-Moch protest at this link

Exmoor ,The Two Moors campaign and Oswaldtwistle Moor , Lancashire

News from the The Two Moors Campaign that their website has just been updated - do have a look for latest news about the campaign to protect the southern fringes of Exmoor. The website includes a summary of David Cocks QC's Closing Submission at the Three Moors and Bickham Moor Public Inquiry.

There is information about the Oswaldtwistle Moor wind Farm (see last night's posting, below) on the website run by Belthorne Village, in Lancashire, go to www.belthornvillage.co.uk and click on the windfarm link. More about artist Catherine Kaufman coming in a day or two.

More about Two Moors artists John Wary and Gill Cronk and the area on this page: www.artistsagainstwindfarms.com/walks/queens-exhibition/two-moors-folder/two-moors.html
This page (made in 2007, being updated soon) from Christine Lovelock's walk round Devon wind farm sites) includes walks around The Two Moors area, plus walks on the Two Moors way down to North Tawton.

Snow on the Moor

We had news in today about a planning application for twelve 120 metre high turbines on Oswaldtwistle Moor in Lancashire. This photograph of the Moor was sent to us by local Lancashire artist Catherine Kaufman.
You can read more about this in the Lancashire Telegraph. More information to come on the blog too (see next post)

Copenhagen Climate Conference

Some Final Links:

Fred Pearce in the New Scientist

The Times Leading article "Not just Hot air"

Christopher Booker in the Sunday Telegraph

And finally, Ben Miller back on December 3rd in The Times, because he reminds us that it never was about saving the planet, just about saving our own skins:
Rebranding Gaia

There is nothing wrong, of course, in wanting to save humanity, but perhaps we should all be a little more humble about it.

On a more serious note:

Being Green doesn't have to be about talking big and throwing money away on grandiose schemes, it can be about making sensible decisions that help low income families and reduce emissions at the same time.

Two really important reports from the Tax Payers Alliance:

Ending the Green Rip Off

The economic cost of a 42 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020

The Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen

How much of it all is a lot of Hot Air and Humbug?
Go to Adrian Gamut's blog, www.hotairandhumbug.com for an all dancing all singing answer.

More on the Den Brook Decision, Freedom of Information and Wind Turbine Noise

Read this linked article in the Western Morning News:

The article says that Mike Hulme, of the Den Brook Judicial Review Group, submitted the request for information (regarding evidence about wind turbine noise) two-and-a-half years ago, when he was putting together the case against the nine 120-metre high turbines that will impact on views near and from Dartmoor in Mid Devon.

He finally received the documents the day after a government planning inspector gave the green light to the development.

Think about it...

And if you haven't read much about the health effects of wind turbine noise go to
http://www.windturbinesyndrome.com/

and watch the videos on www.wind-watch.org.
There are many good ones, especially the ones from Tug Hill,
but for a short introduction, try this one and make sure you read the explanatory text above it.

Save the Whales (again)

At least five whales died when a pod of sperm whales were beached on the Italian coast.

According to the article in The Telegraph on Dec 12th, marine biologist Giuseppe Notarbartolo said noise from military exercises or surveys for underwater mineral deposits may have confused whales and interfered with their communication

Following an earlier posting on this subject, I would like to ask if anyone is doing any specific research to see if offshore wind turbines are causing problems to whales and porpoises? If not, and if someone did want to do this, would they get any funding? After what has come out yesterday about the way that concerns about the health effects of turbine noise on humans have been suppressed, what chance do the whales have?

Posted by Christine Lovelock

Government suppresses researchers recommendation about turbine noise

This photograph shows a blimp flying at the height of the turbines (there will be 9 of them)
The base of the turbines will be in the valley below the land in the foreground, from where the photograph was taken.


Almost at the same time as we learned that the Inspector had allowed the developer's appeal and granted planning permission for the Den Brook wind turbines close to Dartmoor, the news broke that officials in the Department of Energy and Climate Change had suppressed a recommendation by its own consultants to tighten current wind turbine noise regulations.

Why? According to this article, when researchers recommended that a revision of the night-time absolute noise criterion should be considered, a government official noted concern that this would impede wind farm development, and the final report removed any suggestions of cutting the noise limits. Read the article by Jonathan Leake and Harry Byford in The Sunday Times

You can read the full set of documents on www.denbrookvalley.co.uk - they are available for download here.

The Sunday Telegraph takes this up too: Wind turbine noise warnings were dismissed by civil servants

Vandalising the heart of Devon

No apologies for showing this photograph twice in a week. As the valiant defenders of the tiny town of North Tawton meet tonight to sing Carols at Nichols Nymet house, (see Tuesday's blog post) news comes that yet again an Inspector has allowed an appeal by the developers who want to build 9 giant turbines in this gentle rural countryside, close to Dartmoor.

Charlie Brooks and the Copenhagen Summit

Interesting article in The Telegraph today:

He highlights the fact that all Germany's subsidies for wind and solar power have cost colossal amounts of money "without much benefit to the environment or the country's energy security."

Mexico

Found on www.wind-watch.org, an interesting looking Spanish language video from Mexico, with Dutch sub-titles.
The Mexicans being interviewed do not look very happy, although without a translation we cannot know for sure. Whatever they may be saying, it is obvious that the turbines do not enhance the Mexican landscape.

A very special Christmas Concert

The view from Nichols Nymet House (photograph sent by Muriel Goodman)

The Exeter University Choir will be at Nichols Nymet House, just outside North Tawton in Mid Devon, on Friday 11 December for a Christmas Concert. Tickets are £10 which includes mulled wine and mince pies, and doors open at 7 for 7.30 pm.

Phone 01837 82626 for more details.

For more about the fight to stop 9 giant turbines being built close to North Tawton, go to the website: www.denbrookvalley.co.uk/

Japanese government to study effects of wind farms on health

Some interesting news from Japan, found on www.wind-watch.org...

Another school turbine hits the dust

Following on after news that we linked to recently about a turbine collapse at a school in Raasay, Scotland, the Daily Mail reported on another turbine accident at a school in Norfolk, England.
In these days of often hysterical fuss about Health and Safety, why are so many schools encouraged to put wind power generators on or near to school grounds?

If you want more information about turbine accidents, go to the Caithness Windfarm Information Forum website.

Sensible words

Good for David Davis, bringing some sense to the debate about energy policies. As he says, you don't need to wear a hair shirt and ruin beautiful countryside in order to be cost-effective, keep the lights on and reduce carbon emissions. Go to BBC News for more...

The Wind Farm Scam - now on Amazon

This book by Dr John Etherington - which is rapidly becoming a best seller - is now on Amazon. On amazon. co.uk, read the Reviews, especially one by artist Jenny Keal (see more about her on the website she shares with her husband David Bellamy). Jenny says that (quote) "The Wind Farm Scam answered all my questions, it laid out in clear, easy to follow tables and charts the reason why we should stop building wind turbines today."

There is also a link on the Amazon page to a Forum, with Discussion on the subject: Forget Climate Change, it's energy shortages we need to worry about.

This discussion is important because whatever your position on climate change might be, wind power is not the answer to the problem of what to do about it. As Jon Boone says in his review of the book on amazon.com (quote) "... wind technology mirrors the subprime mortgage scams that wreaked havoc with the American economy". Jon is another artist whose work can be seen on the www.artistsagainstwindfarms.com website