Greenpeace has accused the Welsh Tory party of hypocrisy and being a serious impediment in the battle against global warming after Tory Welsh assembly members moved to block an offshore wind farm. Michael Howard, in his keynote speech on the environment and the threat of global warming last week (13th September), accused the Labour government of neglecting offshore wind energy, pointing to its environmental and economic benefits. Despite this, Tories on the Welsh Assembly are trying to stop an offshore windfarm, at Scarweather Sands in Swansea Bay, from getting the go-ahead. Nine out of eleven Tory Welsh assembly ministers have tabled a motion against a recent planning decision to allow the building of Scarweather Sands - South Wales' first offshore wind farm, forcing a vote in the Welsh Assembly in early October. The proposed wind farm would be three miles off the coast and would generate enough electricity to supply 80,000 homes - equivalent to a town the size of Swansea. Greenpeace Renewable Energy campaigner Sarah Shoraka said: "This is an unjustifiable display of hypocrisy by these Tory assembly ministers. They're not only ignoring their own party leader and the huge weight of public opinion in Wales but, perhaps most importantly, they're also turning a blind eye to the 150,000 people who are dying every year because of climate change. "Eighty per cent of people in Wales want offshore wind farms and, just a few days ago, Michael Howard highlighted their economic benefits and their role in the fight against global warming. "Offshore wind farms, just like the one proposed at Scarweather Sands, can tackle the menace of climate change by generating energy from clean renewable sources." In the early hours of Monday morning Greenpeace campaigners projected a message reading "80% Want Offshore Wind" in 30ft high letters onto the assembly building in Cardiff. An ICM poll released last week showed that 76% of people in Wales support the Westminster government's plans to build more wind farms, that 72% want them built in their area and that 80% support the construction of offshore wind farms, with just 10% in Wales opposed.
For more information, contact the Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255.
