Britain | Wind power

Ill winds

Wind farms disfigure the countryside and threaten to cost £1 billion a year. Apart from that, they're great

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FROM sacred cow to white elephant is a short jump. Wind power, once seen as the eco-friendly cure-all for Britain's energy problems, is attracting unprecedented criticism. The latest campaign, which unites veteran greens and the opposition Tories, opposes a proposed installation of 27 wind turbines next to Romney Marsh in Kent, a noted bird sanctuary and beauty spot. Hundreds more are planned elsewhere—many in beautiful bits of the countryside where some of Britain's richest people happen to live. A bunch of media-savvy local organisations is now lobbying hard to stop them.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Ill winds”

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