US leads the way

I RECENTLY travelled in the United States, covering 2,000 miles, ten states and diverse environments – from majestic mountains and vast swathes of open farmland to long stretches of golden-sand beaches and swampland. In this three-week journey, I did not witness a single wind farm.

In fact, I saw only one turbine – a smallish “farmer” turbine on a rundown industrial estate in New Jersey, just across from Manhattan. Obsessively scanning the horizon and never seeing any, I started asking locals: “Where are all your wind farms?” They looked at me puzzled. But everyone answered the same: “Why would we want those when they don’t work and they ruin tourism?”

The one thing the US does do right is tourism. The other thing it seems to be doing right is lowering carbon emissions. It is the only country in the world that has managed to do this, and to the tune of 14 per cent since 2008. And it does this by investing in the dreaded “f” word technology, not through ludicrously expensive, inefficient, environment destroying wind turbines.

Denise Davis

Ardblair

Inverness-shire