Nearly 16 million carbon-catching trees have been cut down in Scotland since 2000 – in order to erect carbon-saving wind turbines – the Scottish National Party (SNP) admitted last week.
An estimated 15.7 million trees – or about 1,700 per day – have been cut down on public land managed by Forestry and Land Scotland, Scottish Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon revealed in a letter to Scottish Tory MSP (Member of Scottish Parliament) Liam Kerr, who called the news “astonishing.”
Sacrificing trees to build wind farms comes at a price to both wildlife and businesses, MSP Kerr warns, according to an article by The Telegraph:
“I’ve been contacted many times by rural communities all over the country questioning the location of these developments, sharing legitimate concerns not just about the visual impact but also damage to wildlife and business. Now we learn there’s significant damage when it comes to trees.”
“He said [Scotland’s] ministers ‘must be alive’ to the ‘significant costs’ that could be incurred with the siting of wind farms.”
Ironically, “The revelation came despite the nationalist party boasting about its green credentials, and being involved in a coalition with the Scottish Greens,” Scottish Daily Express notes. “It forms part of the SNP administration's plans to make Scotland net zero over the next decade,” The Express explains.
In an interview with GB News, MSP Kerr said he has now sent a letter to the cabinet secretary asking for data on how much carbon is saved by wind farms, in comparison to the amount sequestered by trees:
“If they’re going to say it is better to have wind farms than it is to have forestry, then they must surely have that data. Because, if they don’t, I think that would be very concerning, indeed.”
“Trees Are Climate Change, Carbon Storage Heroes,” the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) declares in an article describing how trees remove carbon from the air and store it, because they need it in order to grow.
“Joanie got it wrong: they did ‘pave paradise’ and they did take down the trees – but, they didn’t ‘put ‘em in a tree museum,” a GB News host quipped, quoting the song ”Big Yellow Taxi,” by Joni Mitchell.