I WRITE to support Ken Slow's letter (North Devon Journal, July 15) regarding the 'scam' of the century, wind turbines.

May I add a few brief points to enlighten Green Party member Rosemary Booth as to why so many of us older, life long environmentalists are so opposed to these industrial factories encroaching on our disappearing countryside.

This country produces about one per cent of the world's CO2. If we stopped all production tomorrow or if Britain suddenly sank to the bottom of the ocean, it would have absolutely no impact on world CO2 emissions whatsoever. Meaningless gestures promoted by The Green Party and their chums in the multinational power companies and enforced by central Government would be "laughable" were they not so harmful to wildlife, the environment and the local communities that have to live with the Green Party's policies.

To pretend that wind turbines are any sort of answer to our energy problems is, in my opinion, ludicrous, a bit like going to help in an earthquake disaster armed with a dust pan and brush. China and India are building power stations almost daily which clearly negates anything we do anyway, so why wipe out our only asset which North Devon relies on, our tourist industry? For all the thousands of turbines all over the world, not a single nuclear or conventional power station has ever been shut down. No doubt we should be thankful for this as when the wind doesn't blow, the turbines stop, we get zero electricity and the lights really would go out!

Rosemary's latest letter entitled "Power back to people" (July 15) just about sums up the hypocrisy of The Green Party in my opinion. She maintains she wants local democracy and power back to local people. That's what all our politicians tell us. However, we have witnessed here in North Devon the exact opposite with regard to the Green Party's aggressive campaigning over wind turbines. In fact they do not want local democracy at any price. I believe they want their insane policies forced on local communities by the very people Rosemary criticises in her letter "the uncaring corporate giants". You simply cannot have it both ways.

It's morally and politically unacceptable to be "in bed" with multinational corporations over the turbine issue and then pretend to despise these big corporations on other issues like "Tescopolisation" and expect to retain your reputation and credibility as a political party. One multinational is pretty much the same as another (just like the banks). We turn a blind eye when they are trashing the environment of poor, third world countries but when it hits us in the west it's a different matter. BP should be forced to pay out billions to help the dying wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico. The pictures of oil covered dying pelicans are truly unbearable to look at. In my opinion there is little difference between that and the millions of sliced up birds from the blades of the wind turbines.

Frankly, I found it absolutely staggering in the recent elections that the Green Party, after all this time and with the whole world it seems promoting "green" issues that their candidate only managed to poll 83 more votes than the BNP candidate.

Local democracy at work Rosemary?

JOANNE BELL,

West Yelland.