John Loftus observes that we maybe don't realize just how bad we are at thinking, and Stephen Law observes about how easy it is to fall down intellectual black holes. Very wise ideas.

   There is an interesting debate about whether wind turbines on the National Grid lead to any significant reduction in CO2 emissions. There is also a debate about whether wind turbines are an economically viable or competitive way of reducing CO2 emissions or whether they just lead to manufacturing  industry moving abroad to countries with less CO2 regulations.

   It all comes down to the question of where is the historical, statistical evidence of wind turbines leading to a reduction in CO2 when the whole electrical system of each country is considered.

   If this is not the case then wind mills are no more than homeopathy, a fraud, a con, an act of religious sacrifice like the Azteks making human sacrifices to try to influence the weather or volcanoes.  Only we are sacrificing countryside and finance for nothing.

    Until a week ago I assumed that wind turbines were beneficial because how could so many politicians be mistaken ?  Why would National Grids let it happen. Now I have discovered there are many people who give many reasons to think that there is no evidence that there is a significant reduction in CO2 from the use of wind turbines. It is to do with how too many turbines on grid can lead to conventional power stations on the grid running less efficiently = increase in CO2 emission. There are also more effective ways to reduce emissions.

  See MEP Struan Stevenson " So much wind ", John Constable of Renewable Energy Foundation, " The green mirage ", Dieter Helm, " The carbon crunch ", Gordon Hughes, " Why is wind power so expensive "

European platform against wind turbines.  Scottish wild land group article by engineer Jack Ponton.

Results published by electicity companies; Eirgrid 2004 report, E.ON Netz 2005 - CEO Martin Fuchs said there were too many turbines on gird = causing power surges.

Also an interesting speech by Rupert Soames ,grandson of Winston Churchill, to Holyrood on 12th Nov 2010 in which he warned the government to build more gas and nuclear power stations and less wind turbines to avoid increased risk of blackouts after 2016. Mr Soames is the chief of Aggreko generators which supplies emergency power world wide and is a FTSE 100 company.

    I support CO2 reductions, species conservations, preservation of biodiversity, eco-friendly etc but I wonder if there is a distorted  " Green Kampf " going on in Europe ? But maybe it is the subsidies which are warping decision making ?

   Feel free to delete this, I'll  understand if it is annoyingly off thread.  But it is about how people, myself included often fail to study enough of the detail and breadth on the subject. Are we intellectually myopic ?

Well you have to trust those around you to some extent or you'd be constantly paranoid ?