From Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

“We can’t destroy biodiversity to save the planet.” – local greens teaming up with hardline conservatives to block new wind farms.

The anti-windfarm ‘odd couple’ joining forces to fight the renewable energy projects Australia’s already failing to build

Four Corners /  By Angus Grigg, Mary Fallon and Maddy King

Posted Mon 10 Jun 2024 at 5:23amMonday 10 Jun 2024 at 5:23am, updated Mon 10 Jun 2024 at 11:22pm

Deep in coal country, a lifelong environmentalist and one-time Greens candidate is feeling the applause.

It’s Thursday night at a Gladstone pub and Steven Nowakowski has won over sceptical locals.

His message is a simple one; he believes a wave of new windfarm developments threatens to smash hilltops and turn koala habitat into “industrial zones”.

The green movement, he says, are in “la-la land” over windfarms, a comment that draws nods and knowing smiles from the audience.

But its only when one local suggests building a new coal-fired power station does the crowd erupt in spontaneous applause.

This is the front line of Australia’s latest climate war.

Nowakowski, a nature lover who says he’s been arrested fighting for forests, shares the stage with ultra-conservative federal MP Colin Boyce, a man who claims burning fossil fuels creates “plant food”.

“We’re an odd couple,” Nowakowski admits. “I shake my head in disbelief. I cannot believe that I’m in this situation.”

…

“We’re going down the wrong path,” he says. “We can’t destroy biodiversity to save the planet.”

…Read more: 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-10/renewable-energy-projects-wind-farm-face-opposition-four-corners/103951940

I applaud Steven Nowakowski’s courage breaking ranks with his friends, and standing up for what he believes – genuine measures to protect nature.

The colossal wilderness destruction wrought in the name of renewable energy was always going to be an issue.

Nobody who genuinely cares about the environment can see a devastated concrete construction zone which was once a protected wilderness, stretching as far as the eye can see, and say “see, we saved nature”.