Against the wind

SCOTTISH minister Fergus Ewing (Letters, 13 February) prefers not to use numbers when it comes to talking about Scotland’s renewable energy because he doesn’t have them, not ­reliable ones at least.

The wind industry is very keen to promise X thousand jobs or X million in investment because it needs Scottish Government consent for schemes which are designed first and foremost to extract as much as subsidy as possible from UK consumers.

No-one ever checks to see how much of this promised employment and economic gain materialises, and how much is actually located in Scotland, ­benefiting Scottish workers and Scottish business.

Of course, forecasting the future is inherently uncertain, and it’s no surprise that both government and industry cannot resist taking advantage of that uncertainty by talking up the renewable riches that await us at every opportunity.

Vast number of turbines have already been erected in Scotland, and the government thinks we can accommodate many more.

Regardless of what they say are the positive benefits of this policy, it is also apparent that many people feel wind farms negatively impact on their amenity and, potentially, on the tourism industry on which much of rural Scotland relies.

In this regard, I sometimes think the three monkeys who hear no evil, see no evil, or speak no evil, have ­secretly taken over the job of the minister for ­energy, economy and tourism in the person of the innumerate Fergus Ewing.

Sarah Dunsby

Arncroach,
Fife