The person who hates windmills

Donald Trump has a long term dislike for windmills. In Scotland in 2015, he sued the Scottish government to halt a project of eleven offshore windmills as he attested they ruined the view from his golf course. He lost the case. Here is a subtitle from an article in 2019 in Politico.

“Donald Trump’s Aberdeenshire golf resort must pay the Scottish government’s legal costs following a court battle over a major North Sea wind power development.”

He later said the onshore windmills hurt cattle, yet in Texas, the largest wind electricity producer in the US, ranchers make $5,000 annual rent per windmill. One rancher said he made $55,000 per annum on his eleven windmills, which offers a nice supplement to his income. Note, I said “Texas,” “rancher” and “windmill” in the same paragraph.

I actually think windmills are elegant beasts. There is a site in the rolling hills near Corning, New York where a staggered row of windmills add to the vista. In Ireland, even fifteen years ago, there were fields of windmills.

Let me close with a comment from now deceased oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens made on “60 Minutes” about a dozen years ago. He said, natural gas will buy us time, but the future of electricity in the US is wind energy. He said the wind blows on the plains states. Since then, in addition to Texas, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma all have significant wind energy successes. And, solar energy has also grown significantly here, with California leading the way. So, progress is being made.

British Prime Minister asks King to not speak at a climate change conference

In an article entitled “King Charles abandons plans to attend Cop27 ‘following Liz Truss’s advice’” by Nadeem Badshah of The Guardian, the environmentally conscious King was asked to not speak to the group by his new fossil fuel friendly Prime Minister. Here a few excerpts, with a link to the entire article below:

“King Charles III has reportedly abandoned plans to attend and deliver a speech at the Cop27 climate change summit on the advice of Liz Truss.

The monarch, a veteran campaigner on environmental issues, had been invited to the 27th UN climate change conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, next month.

But the prime minister is understood to have raised objections during a personal audience at Buckingham Palace last month, according to the Sunday Times.

Buckingham Palace has confirmed King Charles III will not attend the summit.

A senior royal source told the newspaper: ‘It is no mystery that the King was invited to go there. He had to think very carefully about what steps to take for his first overseas tour, and he is not going to be attending Cop.‘

They said the decision was made on the government’s advice and was ‘entirely in the spirit of being ever-mindful as King that he acts on government advice.’ However, it remains ‘under active discussion’ about how King Charles will make his presence felt at Cop27, which runs from 6 to 18 November.

Another source said the new monarch would be ‘personally disappointed’ to miss the conference and was “all lined up to go”, with several engagements planned around his Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI), which aims to persuade businesses to invest in environmentally friendly initiatives.“

To be frank, this is a huge disappointment as climate change is such an important and urgent issue. It is my understanding from this and other articles, the new PM wants to promote offshore oil drilling, which is highly concerning given the rocky seas off Great Britain. It should be noted that Scotland is a forerunner in tidal and offshore wind energy given the rocky and windy seas, so an oil rig seems prone to disaster. And, in contrast, if an offshore wind turbine crashes into the sea, the only thing that would happen is a splash.

This has not been a good month for the new PM after winning the nod. Her embrace of trickle-down economics in her budget is of such concern, the Bank of England had to pony up $65 billion pounds to steady the cratering bond markets. Coupled with an inability to explain or understand financial matters in interviews, a poll yesterday said 71% of Brits have little confidence in her and her party to address financial matters.

While I was glad to see Boris Johnson step down given his transgressions and failure to lead, I was forewarned that his replacement may not be the solution needed or hoped. While the King (and Queen’s) role is in part ceremonial, one key function they do serve is being ambassadors for the UK. King Charles had meetings lined up at Cop to play such a role and to hear him speak on such an important topic would have made me proud if I were a Brit.

Let’s hope there is a change of heart and mnds.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/oct/01/king-charles-abandons-plans-to-attend-cop27-following-liz-trusss-advice