Brown’s wind-farm conversion highlights reality

Bob Brown’s objection to a wind farm highlights two important facts: renewables do affect the ecology and activists’ solutions tend towards exporting their environmental responsibilities rather than addressing them at home (“Crusader Brown turns against wind farm”, 15/7).

In the US large-scale solar and wind farms are now having measurable effects on the environment and there are signs of resistance to new projects.

Australia is experiencing an energy crisis that emerges not from a lack of resources, but from local objections. These objections, usually based on environmental concerns, are not backed up by local willingness to import the same resource. A classic example is Tasmania, Victoria and NSW who ban natural gas exploration yet import gas from Queensland and plan to build import LNG plants. Our energy crisis will continue, but with a twist — renewables’ environmental impact is now in focus.

Don McMillan, Paddington, Qld

Finally, the Greens’ true colours are revealed. No renewable energy generation in my backyard, thanks. Now Greens founder Bob Brown is arguing that wind farm towers kill birds and generate visual pollution. Hypocrisy writ large.

Pauline Clayton, Parrearra, Qld

There is a lovely irony in the case of Bob Brown opposing a wind farm on the grounds of visual impact and danger to birds, while ignoring a greater threat to the national interest.

The project could never be a “battery for the nation”, as a battery stores power, rather than delivers it intermittently. These wind farms are a huge capital investment, require public subsidy, and undermine the economics of more reliable base-load power sources when for a fraction of the day they flood the grid.

Brown would never admit such mundane arguments. However, given his unintended success in garnering support for Adani at the ballot box in May, could this be a subtle stratagem to advance the Robbins Island project by seeming to oppose it?

John Morrissey, Hawthorn, Vic

Bob Brown’s recent discovery that wind farms spoil views and kill birds lends hope to us all, that we’re never too old to learn something new. May he live long enough to discover other hitherto hidden truths, particularly in relation to the generation and cost of power.

Tim Fatchen, Mt Barker, SA

For once I can appreciate where Bob Brown is coming from in regard to his criticism of the proposed Robbins Island wind farm in Tasmania. But this underlines the fact that we do not live in a world where everything is hunky-dory and that we can get everything we want.

Sometimes the things that are held dear by some groups in society have to be sacrificed for the greater good. It is all about balance, and once this is out of control the future will be bleak. Often the balance on environmental issues is out of control as the continual attempt to undermine the Adani project proved — including Brown’s useless safari to Queensland during the recent election campaign.

Peter D. Surkitt, Sandringham, Vic

Bob Brown, like most other Greens, spent years trying to drive the square peg of their mythology into the round hole of reality. Eventually, they begin to see the reality of implementing their wonderful ideas. To hear that Brown has just discovered that wind turbines kill birds and are unattractive is typical of Greens’ slow learning, often when it is too late to reverse the damage they are causing. As usual, they also focus on trivialities rather than the crux of the issue.

There are about 20 small problems caused by wind turbines, and I can live with all of them. Brown has noted two of these; aesthetics, and that turbines kill a small number of birds. What I cannot live with are the two significant drawbacks. Decades ago, the Productivity Commission pointed out that depending on subsidies in different areas, wind power in Australia costs two to three times more than conventional power.

Second, even on those days when wind power is providing all our power there will still be a conventional power station burning coal to produce the steam needed to provide power as soon as the wind drops off. We have created a duplicated system that wastes energy, does not stop CO2 emissions, and is very expensive. So why are we doing this?

N. J. Ford, Kambah, ACT