More and more environmentalists are joining the anti-wind movement, denouncing what they consider to be a “sham”. Yves Vérilhac, former director of the regional natural park of the Ardèche mountains, explains their motivations.
Environmentalists signatory to a national petition (*) against wind turbines… absurd? Yet these protesters exist and are currently in full swing. A hundred of them demonstrated this weekend at Mont Gerbier-de-Jonc, in Ardèche, and the petition launched on the Net last Saturday continues to collect signatures, almost 1.800 to date. Among them, those of the humorist Yves Lecocq or the landscape designer Gilles Clément.
“This may indeed seem paradoxical coming from environmentalists, but because there is a nuance to be made, explains Yves Vérilhac, former director of the Parc des Monts d'Ardèche, at the origin of the sling. “We oppose the industrial establishment of wind turbines. However, I was in favor of it before, but when I was confronted with reality, I fell from my stool, ”he laments. His arguments are based on three components: ecological, economic and social.
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“Wind turbines are disfiguring the French countryside. Some like it, some don't. But what would someone say to me if I said that I like the graffiti on the Romanesque chapels? And since this is in the general interest, why wouldn't we then build low-cost housing and factories in the middle of our landscapes?
We will destroy our landscapes and their specificities by standardizing the decor. We also regret the absence of the precautionary principle. We do not know what the impact of all these cumulative projects will be on flora and fauna. We already know, however, that on certain migration corridors, each wind turbine kills on average around XNUMX birds per year, often protected species. "
Not very productive
On the economic front, Yves Vérilhac rebels against the current system, which is fully centralized: “The energy produced by wind turbines near you is absolutely not used for your consumption. It leaves on the national and European network, and consequently multiplies energy losses and the establishment of high voltage lines to transport it. Not to mention that a wind turbine generally works only 20% of the time, 30% at best, and not necessarily when it is needed during peak consumption. "
And Yves Vérilhac to insist on the social consequences that would result from the massive installation of wind turbines. “The primary resources of the French countryside are agriculture and tourism. Who will still want to come and admire them when they are filled with these white columns that are three times the size of high-voltage lines? We have to stop making people believe that technologies can be entirely virtuous. This fantasy of perpetual movement and purity conveyed by the pro-wind turbines is unbearable. "
Change your habits
So what solution does this convinced ecologist offer? At the suggestion of nuclear power, he choked: “Between wind turbines and nuclear power, you might as well choose between the plague and cholera. The real solution lies in changing our behavior.
We could reduce our energy consumption by 10 to 15% by being careful. The other solution is in renewable energies, such as wind turbines, but at the local level. If you have a small wind turbine in your garden like you have a solar panel, you are independent and you use energy optimally. There is nothing to complain about. "
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